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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28273983">Lone Wolves</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriuSango/pseuds/EriuSango'>EriuSango</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lone Wolves [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Loki (MCU) - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Magic, Wolves, there will be angst by the end of this, until then enjoy the ride</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:54:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28273983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriuSango/pseuds/EriuSango</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing! It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you.” was a speech Loki had burned in his mind, heart and soul for so long. It burnt him every single day for the last Asgardian century. But, of course, that was something Thor was completely unaware of. </p><p>This is a love story. A tragic one, as you might have already guessed.<br/>We'll follow Loki and Thor through an adventure that will get them in trouble with their Father and therefore they will be punished by spending some time on Midgard, where Loki will find something he had never dreamt of finding there. </p><p>Expect fantasy, magic, love, and tears from this one, because there will be plenty of those by the end of this piece of work.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki/OC, Thor/Sif</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lone Wolves [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Reckless Children</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            A translation of

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272480">Lobos Solitarios</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriuSango/pseuds/EriuSango">EriuSango</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story begins a hundred years prior Thor's coronation (first Thor movie). Thor and Loki are already adults, but their father cannot quite see them as such since they still behave like reckless children sometimes. </p><p>You might have noticed I used the expression "Asgardian century", that is because time passes different on Asgard than it does on Midgard (time on planet Earth passes much faster than it does on Asgard, in my fic).</p><p>Constructive criticism and grammatical corrections are always welcome since English is my third language (please be gentle). </p><p>Having said that: I hope you enjoy this reading as much as I've enjoyed -and suffered- writing it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                “This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing! It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you” was a speech Loki had burned in his mind, heart and soul for so long. It burnt him every single day for the last Asgardian century. But, of course, that was something Thor was completely unaware of.</p>
<p>                To remember how much Loki loved her while it lasted never failed to bring him both good and bad memories, although he always elected to remember the feeling: how complete he felt with her, the satisfaction of share a bed with someone who really loved him, the peace of mind he felt while she was around, and his own commitment on helping her.</p>
<p>                Back then, Loki and Thor were both starting to be considered adults by their own father, since both had come of age.</p>
<p>                Loki had still to improve his magic skills, so he received lessons from his friend Amora, who was at the moment a better enchantress than he was. With the passing of time, she changed her payment for her lessons from his dessert at the diner time to something entirely different and more «intimate». Of course, Loki was not complaining: he thought it was an improvement really. He did like her, but there was always an empty feeling remaining when she left the bed after. Something was off in their relationship, but Loki couldn’t quite distinguish what it was.</p>
<p>                On the other side, there was Thor, who enjoyed sticking his nose into someone else’s business and sneak into several Einherjar missions to prove his worth as a warrior, though when he was back, his father was waiting for him to reprimand him for his imprudence. And, as it could not be otherwise, Thor always managed to drag Loki with him. And everything in this story started that way.</p>
<p>                “Come on! It will be fun!” Thor exclaimed, trying to convince his brother.</p>
<p>                “How must I tell you for you to understand? I’ll go with something simpler this time: NO” answered Loki, his nose stuck into a spell book.</p>
<p>                “What’s the worst that could happen?”</p>
<p>                “Of sneaking all alone into Muspelheim, you ask? I don’t know, Thor: let me think… We could both end up DEAD. Is <em>that</em> not bad enough for you?”</p>
<p>                “We’re not dying there”</p>
<p>                “You don’t know that” Loki raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>                “Neither do you!”</p>
<p>                “In fact, Brother, I do: if we don’t die there, <em>Father</em> will kill us. Either way, going to Muspelheim is madness”</p>
<p>                “Cooome ooon!” insisted Thor.</p>
<p>                Loki closed his book and took a deep breath before releasing a really deep sigh.</p>
<p>                “Twenty seven times «no»” Loki sighed.</p>
<p>                “Twenty seven?”</p>
<p>                “Do you want me to tell you «no» all the twenty seven times? It’s a pretty simple monosyllable for you not to understand it…” Loki sighed again “Anyway, you know what? I’ll do it. If I’m lucky you’ll probably understand its meaning at some point: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…”</p>
<p>                “Ok, I get it”</p>
<p>                “No”</p>
<p>                “Loki…”</p>
<p>                “And, No. There was one missing. Oh, and I’m giving you another one for free: NO.”</p>
<p>                For a moment, there was a profound silence between both brothers, who stood looking at each other eyes for a while. Both filled with their own determination.</p>
<p>                “You’re going anyway, aren’t you?” asked Loki, raising an eyebrow.</p>
<p>                “Are you coming?”</p>
<p>                Loki buried his face between his hands and masked a resignation growl before rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands, as if he was trying to wake up from a bad dream. Then, he took a look at his brother, who was smiling proudly.</p>
<p>                “Someone has to be there to bring back home your corpse to Father…” slurred Loki, putting his book aside.</p>
<p>                “I knew you wouldn’t leave my down!”</p>
<p>                “We’ll see…”</p>
<p>                Both brothers walked out the palace together and sneaked into the Bifröst, covered by one of Loki’s invisibility spells, while Heimdall was opening the gates for a group of Einherjar who were escorting some civilians to gather materials from Muspelheim. Heimdall was completely unable to see them while they were covered by Loki’s spell, so they knew it was safe for them to pass right in front of him.</p>
<p>                Loki did not quite liked travelling using the Bifröst, he always ended up a little bit dizzy; Thor, on the other hand, seemed to greatly enjoy it.</p>
<p>                The rainbow bridge took them to a barren land, devastated by active volcanos and rivers of lava constantly flowing through the land. It was extremely hot in there, the heat was utterly unbearable and everything made of metal turned red hot almost immediately. Thor seemed to be having a bad time with the extreme heat, but seemed to be just fine compared with his brother Loki, who seemed to have difficulties even for breathing there.</p>
<p>                “Are you satisfied? Do you like the views? Can we go back home now, please?” asked Loki, fanning himself with his own hands.</p>
<p>                “Oh, come on, Brother! We just get in here!”</p>
<p>               “If you make me stay in here, I don’t know who will be carrying a corpse back to home anymore…” Loki took away from his clothes everything made of any kind of metal, he could feel the steel burning his skin even without touching it.</p>
<p>                “Stop whining! It’s not that bad!”</p>
<p>                “Speak for yourself”</p>
<p>                The air was pretty dense, it was really difficult to breathe in it because of the concentration of gases the volcanoes were producing, and it was more and more difficult to breathe just as they got deeper into the Fire Giants’ Realm. At some point, Thor got bored of following the Einherjar around, so he decided to go different ways and explore the realm on his own, dragging the poor exhausted Loki along. They went all over a volcano’s base until they found a cave from where, surprisingly, came out a colder air current –colder than the ambient, but still hot anyway. Both bothers looked at each other before deciding it could be a good idea to go into that cave. They walked down the obsidian black cave, which got darker and darker until Loki had to summon magic fireflies for them to see where they were going.</p>
<p>                The last time Loki had used that spell was on a failed attempt to impress Amora with something a little bit romantic, but she didn’t even notice the fireflies where there –or, if she did notice, she didn’t care. He had created the spell just for her, but she didn’t seem to care about them at all. Loki didn’t want to admit it, but as he felt stupidly upset when his attempt to impress her failed so miserably he had not used that spell anymore until now.</p>
<p>                They got to the cave’s bottom, a so impressively big chamber Loki’s fireflies were no bright enough to illumine it. Loki summoned more fireflies and sent them to the corners of the chamber to know how big it really was, and the answer was: massive. It was almost as big as the Palace’s Throne Room back in Asgard. They wandered through the chamber, looking for the source of the cold air.</p>
<p>                “Can’t your bugs be brighter? I can’t see a damn” Thor complained.</p>
<p>                “There are politer ways to ask, you know?” mumbled Loki, trying to improve his own spell right there.</p>
<p>                They stopped walking for a few seconds while Loki worked on giving more light to his spell. Thor leaned his back on one of the obsidian black walls of the chamber while Loki made what Thor took for some weird hand movements, waving them in strange patterns. As soon as Loki let his hands rest in midair his fireflies started to shine like little stars and lighted up the whole chamber.</p>
<p>                “This is much better” Thor commented.</p>
<p>                “Yeah, you’re welcome” Loki shrugged.</p>
<p>                Loki noticed them the wall where Thor was leaning all that time. He rested a hand on it, and dragged it through its black rocks carefully. Those did not seem rocks, those seemed… scales. Loki stepped back and sent one of his fireflies to the source of cold air, only for him to realize the source was two enormous nostrils, belonging to the huge beast who made that cave into its burrow. The same beast where Thor was still leaning onto.</p>
<p>                “Thor, come here. Slowly. We got to get out of here” Loki requested, waving his hand to the exit of the chamber.</p>
<p>                “What? Why?”</p>
<p>                “Just for the first time in your life, Thor: trust me. We <em>need</em> to get out of here”</p>
<p>                “Can you just tell me what is happening?”</p>
<p>                “You’re leaning on a dragon, Thor: that’s what’s happening” Loki whispered, though he did really wanted to shout.</p>
<p>                “Wait, really? A dragon?” Thor shouted, taking several steps back so he could see the face of the beast “This is amazing!”</p>
<p>                “Don’t shout, you’ll wake it up! Come on, let’s get out of here”</p>
<p>                “What? No way! I want to take a closer look” Thor smiled, walking to the dragon.</p>
<p>                Thor got closer to the sleeping beast and stopped right in front of the nostrils, from where the cold air was coming from. He realized the animal had two pair of horns: two of them where rolled-up in both sides of its head, and the other two where two long spikes that formed a perfect 90 degrees angle from its forehead to the back of its head.</p>
<p>                “You’ve seen it already. Can we go now, please?” insisted Loki.</p>
<p>                But Thor did not listen to his brother and kept observing the dragon from the side of its head. It had three eyelids in a row, meaning the animal had a total of six eyes.</p>
<p>                “Why do you think it needs so many eyes? Is it no enough with two of them?” Thor asked, pointing to the three eyelids he was able to see.</p>
<p>                “I don’t know and I don’t care. I just want not to be in here when it wakes up”</p>
<p>                “I don’t think it’s gonna wake up anytime soon. It seems to be hibernating”</p>
<p>                “If this is Muspelheim’s winter, I don’t want to know how summers must be…” Loki murmured.</p>
<p>                To prove his theory, Thor decided to climb the beast. He used one of the dragon’s horns on the side of its head as a ladder while Loki stood where he was, his jaw on the floor, incapable of believing what his big brother was doing. They were both going to end up dead just because Thor was stupidly reckless.</p>
<p>                “Are you kidding me, Thor? Come back here!” urged Loki, getting anxious.</p>
<p>                “It’s ok, look!” shouted Thor, standing on the dragon’s forehead. “Remember this pose: if they make me a statue someday, I want it to be like this!”</p>
<p>                “Do you mean a funerary monument? Because that’s the only thing they will make us if the dragon wakes up”</p>
<p>                “It’s completely asleep! Look: “Thor said, kicking the base of one of the dragon’s pointy horns. “See? Nothing.”</p>
<p>                But there was indeed a response: the animal opened one of its eyes. The smaller of its eyes rolled up so it could see what was bothering it on the top of its own head. Thor did not realized he was being observed, but Loki did see it clearly. The fierce fire-colored eyes of the beast piercing Thor with their glare while Thor continued bothering the beast, completely unaware of the peril he was in.</p>
<p>                “Thor…” Loki urged his brother.</p>
<p>                “<em>Relax</em>, brother!” Thor jumped on the dragon’s head to prove once more it was fast asleep.</p>
<p>                It opened another eye, furiously glaring at Thor. Loki stepped back while his brother walked down the animal’s nose and jumped from it, back to the ground.</p>
<p>                “See? Everything is fine!” Thor smiled proudly.</p>
<p>                But nothing was fine actually: the animal opened all its angry eyes and was glaring directly at the young God of Thunder from behind. It opened its enormous nostrils and exhaled a deep snarl that caused the air surrounding Thor to tremble, and only then, Thor realized he had made a terrible mistake. Thor turned his head to where Loki was standing a minute ago, looking for his brother, but he was not there anymore: Loki was running to the exit of the cave as fast as he was capable of.</p>
<p>                “W-Wait for me!” Thor shouted, running after his brother while the dragon started to stand up.</p>
<p>                “You had to wake it up, didn’t you?” Loki complained to Thor once he was by his side “You couldn’t just let it alone!”</p>
<p>                “Shut up and run!”</p>
<p>                As they were running to the exit, Loki casted a good number of magical shields and force fields trying to stop the breath of the dragon from burn them to death. The beast tried to get them with its claws once they entered the funnel they had used previously to get to where the dragon was sleeping, but it was unable to fit into the small passage. It did not stopped it from trying to burn them with its fire breath though. Luckily enough, the shields Loki had summoned were able to keep them safe until they got all the way out of the cave. A flame busted from the inside of the passage through the smoky sky, opening the smoke clouds for a while. Both brothers could listen to the dragon’s roars coming from inside the volcano. It took them a while to regain their breaths, running from a really pissed dragon could be truly exhausting.</p>
<p>                “Well, do you have any other great idea? Or it is finally <em>my</em> turn to try and get us killed?” asked Loki, as sarcastically as he was able to.</p>
<p>                “Oh, come on, it’s been fun!”</p>
<p>                “I beg your pardon? What part of «almost get eaten by a dragon» do you happen to find <em>fun</em>?”</p>
<p>                The volcano they were standing on started to spit out tons of lava, causing the earth to shake under their feet. They glanced to the top of the volcano, where the lava was starting to flow slowly towards them, but what they found when the two brothers raised their eyes up was three pairs of fire-glowing furious eyes filled with infinite hate, staring at them. Loki damned the moment he decided to go with Thor to Muspelheim while they both started running, looking for the Einherjar. The dragon jumped from the top of the volcano and once it was about to touch the ground, a couple of extremely powerful wings spread out and make it to take off, flying swiftly towards the princes. Thor decided running was not enough, so he took a time to impulse himself using his hammer and taking Loki with him while the two of them flown through Muspelheim’s sky. Unfortunately, the dragon did not stopped chasing them, so Loki had no other option than taking his invisibility spell away from them so Heimdall could get them out of there.</p>
<p>                “Heimdall, open the bridge!!” asked Loki, shouting.</p>
<p>                Two beams of light opened the skies and stroke the ground, taking both the princes and the Einherjar on them and putting them away from the danger the dragon was. In a blink, they all were once again on the Bifröst Bridge. The Mjölnir had picked so much momentum both brothers ended up laying across the bridge, looking into the Asgardian skies. Thor started laughing his ass off while Loki palpated his whole body, making sure he wasn’t missing a limb –but mostly making sure he was still alive. Heimdall approached the princes once he had closed the Bifröst again.</p>
<p>                “I hope your Majesties know your Father is not going to appreciate the trouble you caused” Heimdall sighed.</p>
<p>                “It was his doing!” shouted both brothers at the same time, pointing at each other.</p>
<p>                The guards escorted the princes back to the palace while Odin’s crows flew over their heads to the palace, where they would inform the Allfather what his kids had done this time, before the princes could go there and explain themselves. But, how could they explain themselves, anyway? One cannot walk into the Bifröst to Muspelheim by accident. Loki was already thinking on what he could say to make their punishment a little lighter, mentally making a thousand speeches and answers to get by. On the other hand, Thor seemed to be daydreaming about the story he had to tell everyone: he was smiling like a Cheshire cat, knowing Sif would love to hear the great adventure he had just lived –or survived. Loki always felt an immense need to strangle his brother when Thor smiled like that after getting them both in trouble, and secretly hoped for the day they would allow him to do so.</p>
<p>                The Allfather received them on the Throne Room, where he was waiting for them, surely already with a reprimand for their stupidity. Odin asked the Einherjar and everyone else besides the princes to leave the room –although Loki was certain it was a fool’s play since once his Father started shouting the whole Realm would know about their punishment.</p>
<p>                Odin stood up before the princes, but still standing on the throne’s pedestal above his sons so he could look down on them.</p>
<p>                “What were you thinking when you decided to go into Muslpelheim?” asked Odin, almost calmly.</p>
<p>                “It was just a bit of fun!” said Thor.</p>
<p>                “Speak for yourself!” blurted Loki out to Thor before addressing Odin. “It was all Thor’s idea, Father. I tried to dissuade him from going to Muspelheim, but…</p>
<p>                “But since you were unable to accomplish so, you decided to join him. Am I right?” Odin interrupted.</p>
<p>                “Well, yes… But-”</p>
<p>                “You should have come immediately to tell me so!” Odin shouted.</p>
<p>                Loki remained silent. He knew it was no use in trying to talk with their father when he was angry. Every time Loki had tried to reason with him when he was mad, Odin had made him shut up with a yell, so Loki new better.</p>
<p>                “Have you any idea of the embarrassment your actions have caused me?” their Father continued. “The materials we were gathering there were for new weapons and armors for the new Einherjar. But every cart filled with the needed materials had to be abandoned on Muspelheim because of your reckless childish behavior; because you decided to awake a dormant dragon.</p>
<p>                “How does he knows that?” asked Thor, mumbling. Loki nudged Thor to make him shut up while their father continued his monologue.</p>
<p>               “During the last century you’ve interrupted more missions than I am able to remember, just because you needed to believe you’re as strong and brave as the Einherjar. And you only get away with it because you’re the princes, because if you weren’t my sons I would have already made you two get imprisoned so I don’t have to tolerate your mischievous acts.”</p>
<p>                “If I may interfere…” Loki started.</p>
<p>                “No, you may not. I don’t want to hear excuses” replied Odin.</p>
<p>                “It’s not fair for the Einherjar to live all the glorious battles while we stay in here doing nothing!” complained Thor.</p>
<p>                “Silence!” snapped Odin. “I have not found a way to punish you two that made you learn anything. If I oblige you two to stay in the palace, Loki seems content with it; if I oblige you to train with the Einherjar, Thor would just run into trouble everyday so he can keep on training with them…” Odin sighed.</p>
<p>                “Easy punishment: make me study, make Loki train” murmured Thor before Loki elbowed him to made him shut up.</p>
<p>                “You need to know humbleness. To feel defenseless, powerless” continued Odin, thinking out loud.</p>
<p>                “What is he even saying?” Loki muttered to himself.</p>
<p>                “You’ve always taken for granted your powers and your authority as my sons” Odin rambled still. “Maybe you’ll need sometime without any of those so you can know real humility. On a place where you cannot protect yourselves behind your peerage, such as Midgard”</p>
<p>                “<em>Midgard</em>?!” Loki screeched highly disgusted.</p>
<p>                “Midgardians are mere farmers! There’s no way we would learn something useful in there! All they know is how to… I don’t know… Milk a cat?” protested Thor.</p>
<p>                “I don’t think cats can be milked, even on Midgard” mentioned Loki, before addressing Odin again. “But wait a moment, Father. Why must I be punished as well? I’ve tried to stop Thor <strong>every single time</strong>! Why am I getting punished for his actions?”</p>
<p>                “Cause you didn’t come to tell him so” explained Thor.</p>
<p>                “You shut up!” barked Loki.</p>
<p>                “Because you didn’t come to tell me so” confirmed Odin.</p>
<p>                “See?” Thor chuckled.</p>
<p>                “But Father” Loki continued after glaring at Thor “Why to take my powers from me too? Thor’s powers are a destructive force, and he <strong>does</strong> use them to intimidate. But, mine? My powers are just some insignificant magic tricks. I don’t think they could be of any harm nor use on Midgard, to be honest.”</p>
<p>                “If you’re so sure they won’t be of any use on Midgard, why do you look so desperate for keeping them?” Odin snapped.</p>
<p>                “Ha! Gotcha!” Thor scoffed.</p>
<p>                “I’m about to end you…” Loki slurred.</p>
<p>                “You will depart at dawn. You will stay on Midgard until further notice” Odin explained “Get it into your head: you’re going to be there for a long time, so bid farewell to whomever you want to and pack everything you may need on your journey”.</p>
<p>                Thor raised his hand.</p>
<p>                “No: you cannot bring Mjölnir with you” Odin said before Thor opened his mouth.</p>
<p>               Thor put his hand down and Loki scoffed quietly. Odin excused them and they left the throne room in silence. Once they were outside and the doors were closed, they looked at each other.</p>
<p>                “«Oh, <em>brother</em>! Come to <strong>Muspelheim</strong> with me, it will be <strong><em>LOTS</em></strong> of <strong>fun!</strong> »” Loki mimicked Thor.</p>
<p>                “How was I supposed to know he would send us to Midgard?” muttered Thor. “At least we’re not banished, nor dead!”</p>
<p>                “Give it some time, brother: maybe we’ll get killed by some bandit once we are powerless, abandoned on that forsaken floating clod Midgard is.”</p>
<p>                They parted different paths so they could looks for anything useful to take with them on their journey. But mostly, they went to bid farewell to the ones they cared about: Thor looked for Sif and spent a whole night of passion with her because they didn’t know when they would see each other again, and Loki went to find Amora. He found her at the room they usually used for practicing spells and making potions, and there she was: making a new potion.</p>
<p>                “Thor got me in trouble” Loki started to explain. “Well, to sum up: Thor and I are going to be stranded on Midgard until the Norns know when”.</p>
<p>                “Sounds nice” Amora replied absent-mindedly, peeking on a book and adding ingredients into a bowl.</p>
<p>                “We’ll be powerless, so it’s possible we get killed down there” continued Loki, trying to draw her attention.</p>
<p>                “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. Pass me the snow dragon scales.”</p>
<p>                Loki passed her a jar.</p>
<p>                “This is troll hair” she snarled.</p>
<p>                “At least you’re paying attention to the ingredients…”</p>
<p>                “Ugh… What do <em>you</em> want, Loki?” asked her, annoyed.</p>
<p>                “To get a little bit of your attention, maybe? I’m telling you I don’t know when I’ll be back from this stupid punishment, but you don’t care <strong>at all</strong>!”</p>
<p>                “Attention, Ok: I’ll give you attention” she replied, turning herself to Loki and planting him a kiss filled with lust.</p>
<p>                “Even if I do like it…” he started after the kiss “this is not the kind of attention I was looking for right now.”</p>
<p>                “What do <em>you</em> want <em>then</em>?” she asked, really annoyed.</p>
<p>                “I just want to have a light talk. And maybe cuddle a little?”</p>
<p>                “I’m pretty busy right now, Loki. If you’re not here for something more important than <em>cuddle</em>, you might just <strong>leave</strong>.” She snapped, air quoting the word «cuddle».</p>
<p>               Loki left the room feeling emotionally more exhausted than when he first came in. The only person he thought would give him some support was completely oblivious of his presence, even when he was standing right in front of her. He sighed deeply and walked dragging his feet towards his bedroom, where he supposed there could be something useful for taking with him to Midgard.</p>
<p>                He found some copper and silver coins he used to play with when he was a kid and thought they would have some use on Midgard, even if they had no value at all on Asgard. He also took some blank papers, a quill, and a couple ink bottles, just in case he needed something to occupy his mind with. He also took a book of potions he had not read yet, even if he couldn’t practice it being powerless. He also added an improvised first-aid kit and some ingredients for some healing ointments, because he knew Thor was certainly going to need them at some point since he was so reckless. Loki prepared some plain clothes for the journey, nothing too flashy; he would try not to draw attention to himself while he was powerless. He packed a pair of daggers as well: he was sure he would need them at some point. Either for protection or attacking.</p>
<p>                Thor, on the other side, only took with him a really shiny silvery armor and a claymore almost as big as his little brother. Perfect to not draw any attention towards them, right?</p>
<p>                Odin, Sif and Frigga where on the Bifröst already at dawn to bid the princes farewell. The queen Frigga hugged her little son while Thor was busy saying goodbye to his girlfriend very passionately. While Odin was distracted talking with the watchman, Frigga gave Loki a little golden locket filled with magic, just in case they were in danger and needed something more than brute force –she blinked an eye to Loki while giving it to him. Obviously it was some magic for an emergency, so he should know better and don’t waste it –that was the reason she gave it to him, because Frigga trusted Loki’s responsibility and common sense. The trust his mother was putting in him made him feel better and not think too much about how Amora didn’t even care enough to go and say goodbye to him.</p>
<p>                At last, after bidding farewell to everyone, their father took their powers away from them temporally and, using the Bifröst, sent them to Midgard: the most boring and mediocre Realm of all Nine Realms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thor and Loki arrive to Midgard: the most boring and dull of all Nine Realms. <br/>They realize their journey on that Realm might not be as easy as they had thought, especially without their powers. <br/>At the very begining of their journey, they find out an amazing and almost legendary creature inhabits those lands, and the locals have already given it a name: Night.<br/>Maybe staying on Midgard for some time won't be so boring after all.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was already night when they arrived Midgard. Both found it odd since it was dawn just a second ago on Asgard, but the moon was now standing on the sky, looking over them on Midgard. They decided to start their journey even if that meant walking in the dark. Loki tried to summon his fireflies, but it was fairly impossible: there was not enough magic on the air to regain even a pinch of his magic powers. Every other Realm he had been in, had plenty of magic in the air, making extremely easy to perform any spell, but Midgard was really an exception. The air there was dull, insipid even.</p>
<p>                They kept walking on the prairie they had arrived at until they found a river and decided to follow its stream: if there is water, there surely are settlements. Following the river, they entered an extremely dense forest; the river crossed the whole forest from end to end, forming a valley around its shores.</p>
<p>                The brothers decided to stop and eat something around midday. That was the moment both realized none of them had taken anything to eat with them. They had no edible supplies at all.</p>
<p>                “I thought you would take them!” Loki yelled.</p>
<p>                “Me? I’m not Volstagg! I don’t spend all day eating!” Thor shouted.</p>
<p>                “Of course, you had enough eating Sif out! How were you supposed to think about real food? My bad!” Loki growled.</p>
<p>                “Don’t you dare to speak of her like that!” barked Thor.</p>
<p>                Suddenly, they heard a sound coming from the bushes around them. Loki, who was never off-guard but got surprised by the unexpected sound, threw one of his daggers into the plant as a reflex action. Both brothers looked at each other when they did not heard the dagger hit the ground. They approached it carefully and moved away the leafy branches just to find out Loki had aimed his dagger directly into a rabbit’s back, killing it immediately.</p>
<p>                “Good aim” Thor praised him.</p>
<p>                “Of course, it was calculated” lied Loki.</p>
<p>                Loki gladly let Thor take care of the rabbit and skin it. They needed something to eat, and that rabbit was almost a gift. While Thor did his work, Loki went down the forest and collected little branches and dry leaves in order to set a fireplace. Although, none of them knew how to start a fire without magic. However, Thor remembered one of the Einherjar expeditions he had sneaked into a couple years ago; they used friction to start a fire, so he decided to try it out. It took him forever, but at last he set a fire on the fireplace. Right as the sun went down, disappearing behind the forest’s trees.</p>
<p>                “Fire! I did it!” Thor shouted.</p>
<p>                “Water, please! Where’s the fire?!” shouted Loki, sleepily. He had fallen sleep at some point while Thor was trying to make fire.</p>
<p>                “Right here!” said Thor, proudly, pointing the fire with his hands.</p>
<p>                “Oh, perfect” mumbled Loki, rubbing one of his eyes. “Where’s the rabbit?”</p>
<p>                “Didn’t you had it?”</p>
<p>                “Me? Where? I’ve been sleeping for a while now, Thor.”</p>
<p>                It turns out a fox quite smarter than they had stolen their prey a couple hours ago, while Loki was sleeping and Thor was trying to set the fire. They gave up and realized they were not going to eat anything for the night either. They could had fished something on the river, though, but they were so hungry and exhausted it was nearly impossible for them to think straight, so the idea of fishing didn’t crossed their minds even for a second. They went to sleep on an empty stomach, but at least they were relieved to know no beast would approach them at night: not with Thor’s atrocious snoring, that resounded through the whole forest.</p>
<p>                Loki woke up while the moon and the stars were still shining faintly over their heads. After his nap, he had no more need of sleeping for the rest of the night: he felt pretty rested. Loki stood and went away from their camp to urinate and came back to the river to wash his hands. He kneeled down on the shore and put his hands into the crystal clear water, scrubbing them on the cold stream. He cupped his hands together and took some water, taking a sip from them. It was then when he raised his head again and saw it right in front of him: the biggest wolf he had ever seen.</p>
<p>                It was on the other shore of the river. It was too dark for him to see the color of its fur, but thanks to the moon and stars, he could clearly see its enormous silhouette and its bright eyes: amber yellow, deep, intense and intelligent eyes. Those eyes sent a shiver down Loki’s spine. He wanted to wake Thor up, ask him to ready his weapon, but he didn’t dare to move a single muscle. If the animal felt threatened in any way, it would undoubtedly attack them. Loki took a look at his dagger, which was about ten feet away from him, where Thor had left it after skinning the rabbit. The wolf noticed and looked to the dagger’s direction too, and then it looked back at Loki.</p>
<p>                The animal felt confident enough to get closer to the shore, and Loki got closer and closer to his dagger. He felt his pulse unsteady: everything would be a lot easier if he had his powers. He was feeling an intense panic, that beast was too close. The river was not really wide, so the wolf could jump it effortlessly if it wanted to, and there was nothing Loki could do to prevent so. He finally reached his dagger and wielded it against the animal, but then he realized the wolf was there merely because it needed to drink. He put his dagger down while observing the beast drinking peacefully on the stream. He got a little closer to it and realized its fur was completely black, darker than night.</p>
<p>                «Such a fascinating animal», Loki thought while looking at the wolf. He had been getting closer and closer to it unknowingly, completely amazed by its majestic demeanor. He reached out his arm, trying to pet the animal, but it started to growl menacingly, wrinkling its nose and showing its extraordinary fangs. Loki put his hand back again carefully and the animal turned around swiftly and run into the forest, quickly disappearing between the trees.</p>
<p>                Loki had to sit down after that. In fact, he spent the rest of the night sitting with his back leaning on a tree, hugging his dagger to his chest. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the wolf’s eyes, looking directly at him. He had never seen an animal with such eyes. Asgard had legends about giant wolves: one of those legends said there were two wolves chasing after the sun and moon, and another legend said the Father of all Wolves was imprisoned somewhere under the palace for all eternity. But he had never dreamt of seeing a wolf that big with his own two eyes. If both had been standing, they could have looked directly into each other’s eyes without a need for bowing down nor lift their heads. Loki calculated just the wolf’s head was almost as big as his whole torso, maybe even bigger. It was such a magnificent huge beast; equally intimidating and splendid. It also seemed it had nothing to fear, as if it know there was no weapon able to pierce through its skin. As if it was lord and master of the forest. In fact, it probably was.</p>
<p>                Thor woke up about an hour after dawn. Loki, who could not sleep again since his encounter with the wolf, fished some fishes using a sharp stick he had sharpened with his dagger while thinking on the beast he had seen hours ago. He was removing the scales from the fishes and putting them over the fire when Thor got up.</p>
<p>                “Wow, you’ve done lots of stuff. For how long have I been sleeping?” Thor asked.</p>
<p>                “I couldn’t sleep, so I had plenty of time” explained Loki.</p>
<p>                “I see. It’s not easy to sleep on the ground for the first time. I remember the first time I did so, during one of my missions with the Einherjar-“</p>
<p>                “You mean one of the Einherjar missions you sneaked into, right?” Loki interrupted.</p>
<p>                “Same thing.” Thor shrugged.</p>
<p>                “Sure.”</p>
<p>                Thor kept on talking but Loki was still thinking about the wolf –more specifically, about its eyes-, so he did not paid much attention to his brother’s rambling. Loki decided not to tell Thor about the wolf: he wouldn’t believe him anyway. No one would believe such a creature could exist without seeing it with their very own eyes, and Loki had enough people around him already thinking he was a liar, he did not need for his brother to think so as well.</p>
<p>                They had roasted fish for breakfast, and after putting out the fire they continued their journey. They kept walking down the river until they reached the end of the forest, around midday. It was almost evening when they left the whole forest behind. Sometimes, even hours after, Loki found himself looking behind, to the forest, unable to forget the beast that inhabited those mountains. Unable to forget its eyes.</p>
<p>                When it was dark night, they decided to camp right where they were: on a large meadow with a couple of fruit trees and some large rocks around it, near the river. They recollected some of the trees’ fruits and had that for dinner: they felt way too exhausted for trying to hunt of fish anything.</p>
<p>                It was a windy night, so they decided not to set a fire just in case everything would end up in flames. They leaned on a large rock by the river that covered them from the wind and decided to sleep in there.</p>
<p>                Hours later, howls caused Thor to wake up, and he woke Loki up as well since Thor had never listened to such a deep howl. Thor shook Loki until he started to open his eyes.</p>
<p>                “Do you hear that, brother?” Thor asked.</p>
<p>                “Do I hear you bothering me? Yes. Clearly.” Replied Loki, sleepily and annoyed.</p>
<p>                “No, you idiot: I meant the howls!”</p>
<p>                “Yes: they come from a huge, black, amber-eyed wolf. Now, if you may excuse me, I will go back to sleep.” Loki rolled to the side, turning his back on Thor.</p>
<p>                “Stop playing around, Loki!”</p>
<p>                “I’m not playing around: I saw it last night. It did not attacked me though, I don’t think it considers us a prey. We wouldn’t qualify even as an appetizer.”</p>
<p>                “Not funny!”</p>
<p>                “I’m not trying to be so either. Good night, Thor.”</p>
<p>                It was Thor who did not slept that night. He spent it on his heels, one hand over his claymore and looking everywhere, unable to see anything but focusing on every moving shadow, trying to figure out what was casting it. He felt pretty vulnerable without Mjölnir, even if he was as strong as he actually was, he relied too much on his trusty hammer. Also, he was not sure he could stand a fight against an animal that big –because, given the resonance of its howls, it must be a colossal beast-, at least not without his powers. He was not frightened of it, of course not. How could he be? He did not know the meaning of «frightened», he was the God of Thunder after all! But every howl chilled his blood and caused him to hold his breath. He did not feel entirely safe until the sun started to come out and he was able to look around and make sure the wolf was not there. He stood up and went to recollect some fruit for breakfast while Loki started to wake up.</p>
<p>                “Had you ever listened such a howl?” asked Thor, sitting by Loki and giving him a piece of fruit.</p>
<p>                “Never” Loki replied as simply as he could. He knew Thor wouldn’t believe his story, even after listening to its howls.</p>
<p>                “How big do you think it must be?”</p>
<p>                “Huge” he shrugged, cleaning his piece of fruit on his shirt before biting it.</p>
<p>                “Can you imagine being in front of such a beast?”</p>
<p>                “It would be a miracle to get away alive” Loki replied in a condescending way.</p>
<p>                They continued their way after breakfast, still following the river until they found an inn at dusk; it was in a big grove by the watercourse. They decided to stay there for the night, since they discovered that the copper and silver coins Loki had brought with him were actually pretty valuables on Midgard. With just one silver coin, the afforded a nice dinner, a shared bedroom and all the jars of mead they could drink.</p>
<p>                When it was dark night already and while they were drinking their third jar of mead, a group of four hunters entered the inn. They were dragging a really big boar they had hunted. They put their prey on a table, and then sat on another one and asked for drinks and dinner in order to celebrate their successful hunt.</p>
<p>                “Finally! This is the first boar in a whole year we hunt before the goddamned wolf steals it from us!” shouted one of them while raising his jar for a toast. He was a big redhead man with an untidy red beard.</p>
<p>                “Did you said «wolf»? Have you seen it?” asked Thor.</p>
<p>                “<em>See it</em>? I’m missing a leg because of it!” barked another man, putting his wooden leg over the table.</p>
<p>                “Is it as big as it seems for its howls?” continued Thor.</p>
<p>                “It’s even bigger” commented a bald man with a scar all over his face. “I’ve been hunting on these mountains since I was a kid, as my father, and his father before him; and I had never seen such a big wolf.”</p>
<p>                “If it was just big! It’s also pretty smart” added a skinny man. “It avoids all our traps as if it know exactly how they work.”</p>
<p>                “I’ll tell you more:” continued the wooden-leg man “the beast makes use of our own traps to hunt. It leads its preys to them and hunts them effortlessly.”</p>
<p>                “Well, that’s interesting” mumbled Loki, who suddenly had interest on the conversation.</p>
<p>                “Haven’t you tried to hunt that beast?” asked Thor.</p>
<p>                “Yes?” answered the wooden-leg man, raising his wooden leg over the table once more.</p>
<p>                “That’s on you, you went alone” the skinny man reprimanded his comrade. “You’re lucky you’re still alive.”</p>
<p>                “No one had the guts to come along to hunt that beast, of course I went alone!” snarled the wooden-leg man.</p>
<p>                “Did it let you go?” asked Loki.</p>
<p>                “I escaped.” The wooden-leg man corrected.</p>
<p>                “How in Hel would you have escaped with a missing leg?” Loki argued “It must had let you let go, there’s no other explanation.”</p>
<p>                “We’re no match nor prey for such an animal” started the redhead. “Surely it didn’t want to lose its time with him while there were better preys to hunt.”</p>
<p>                “Where I come from, animals don't behave like that.” Loki replied.</p>
<p>                “Animals don’t behave like that anywhere.” Added the skinny man. “But she does.”</p>
<p>                “<em>She</em>?” Thor asked.</p>
<p>                “Due to its size; we have deduced it must be a female” explained the bald man.</p>
<p>                “We call her «Night» because we’ve never seen her during the day. But in the dead of night, she appears and steals all the preys she can find.” The redhead said.</p>
<p>                “She mocks us howling.” Told them the wooden-leg man. “She howls here and there, and when we get to where all the howling were coming from, she has already run to the other side of the forest and stolen all our preys there.”</p>
<p>                “How is it possible? No animal is that intelligent” Thor commented.</p>
<p>                “Well, we have some theories…” started the bald man.</p>
<p>                “Don’t you dare to start again with your stupid theories!” interrupted the wooden-leg man. “Not another word about that «cursed tribe» story of yours!”</p>
<p>                “Do you have any other idea or theory? Because I would like to hear it!” replied the bald man, knocking the table with his jar.</p>
<p>                “You two, stop already!” asked the redhead.</p>
<p>                Loki decided he had enough. As much as he was interested on the subject about the wolf, he was not interested on their ramblings and theories at all. Although, now the fact that he was still alive made sense: the animal seemed to have no interest on hunting humans nor anything similar. He went up to the bedroom and laid on his bed, looking into the celling without being able to sleep while he could still heard the men discussing downstairs about the wolf.</p>
<p>                Suddenly, a deep and clear howl interrupted everything. Everyone shivered at the sound of it, as it came right from outside the inn. Loki stood swiftly and went to the window. There it –or she- was: the wolf, standing just in front of the inn’s door, waving its tails as if it all was just a game. The animal sniffed the door and took a step aside once it heard the hunters rushing towards the door.</p>
<p>                “YOU BEAST!” They all shouted, opening the door.</p>
<p>                The wolf waved its tail once more before howling again and starting running to the forest before the hunters could even think about drawing their bows. «She’s just playing with them» Loki thought, smiling.</p>
<p>                “GET HER!” shouted one of the hunters, and the rest went along and followed him.</p>
<p>                They took their weapons and hurried to ride on their horses –that where tied outside the inn by a drinking trough. They galloped towards the forest to try and hunt the wolf. Thor, meanwhile, was standing outside the inn, not knowing what to do now that his new friends where gone. Although, he would have enjoyed joining them on their hunting party.</p>
<p>                Once the hunters were out of sight, a bright pair of amber eyes shone with a sparkle of both fun and satisfaction from in between the trees in front the inn. Loki saw the eyes of the animal and decided the better he could do was going downstairs and drag his brother back into the inn, not because he thought the wolf would hurt him, but because he knew why the animal was there. Loki made his brother help him carry with the dead boar to outside the inn and they threw it in front of the grove. Though Thor did not understand at all why they were doing so.</p>
<p>                “It’s yours” Loki shouted “This is what you were looking for, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>                “Who are you talking to?” Thor asked, visibly confused.</p>
<p>                “Her” Loki whispered as the animal appeared in front of them.</p>
<p>                A giant black wolf came out of the grove, extremely cautiously, observing both brothers with obvious curiosity and distrust. The animal move towards the boar, sniffing it carefully while staring at the men that were still there.</p>
<p>                “It’s not poisoned, if that’s what’s concerning you” Loki told the wolf.</p>
<p>                Thor’s legs were trembling while he couldn’t look away from the beast. After all the stories he had heard from the hunters, he felt unsafe for just the two of them to be in front of such a fierce animal while they were powerless, defenseless. For the first time in his life, Thor was terrified.</p>
<p>                “Consider it a prize for your wittiness” Loki continued talking to the animal “Take it before those hunters realize you outsmarted them.”</p>
<p>                The wolf sank her strong fangs on the boar and dragged it into the grove, where she took it in between her powerful jaws and lifted it from the ground, staring at the brothers once more before starting running to the opposite direction she had made the hunters take.</p>
<p>                “Come on in, Thor. Our journey might be long, we’ll need some sleep.” Loki advised Thor, entering the inn and dragging him in. “The Innkeeper said the nearest town is a couple weeks away from here.”</p>
<p>                But Thor was still trembling after witnessing the animal with his own two eyes. It was not a lie, nor a joke, nor a fairytale: it was real, the giant black wolf with amber eyes actually existed. And it was more intelligent than any other animal he had ever seen. Loki had to drag his brother all the way to their room since he was still on shock. There was no way such an animal could exist anywhere. But, on Midgard? No way!</p>
<p>                Loki left Thor by the door and let himself fall onto his own bed. Thor remained standing there until he started walking to his bed, and once he was in front of it, he took a seat on it.</p>
<p>                “Have you ever imagined such an animal could be living here, on Midgard?” asked Thor, still a bit shocked.</p>
<p>                “No, of course not. There was no way I could have even dreamt of something like that animal before. Not on Midgard, not on anywhere else.”</p>
<p>                “It’s like one of those legends Father would tell us when we were younger, do you remember those stories?”</p>
<p>                “Yes, I do. I thought exactly the same when I first saw the wolf.”</p>
<p>                “Have you seen how it looked at us? Like it was thinking?”</p>
<p>                “All- All living beings think, Thor…”</p>
<p>                “Yeah! But it seemed to think <em>clearly</em>. As we do!”</p>
<p>                “Do <em>you</em> think clearly? First I've heard of it!” Loki joked.</p>
<p>                “You idiot!” Thor laughed, throwing Loki a pillow.</p>
<p>                They woke up hours after the dawn. Since there was not much light inside the inn’s room, they had plenty of sleep hours, which they really appreciated after all the time they spent drinking with the hunters before they left in a hurry chasing the wolf.</p>
<p>                They left the inn after breakfast and went down the path, going deeper into the grove. The hunters found them again by noon, hanging from their saddles were some rabbits and a couple pheasants they had hunted during the first morning hours. Once they reached the brothers, they asked for the boar they found missing when they came back from their unsuccessful hunt for the wolf last night. It was obvious the brothers had not had the boar with them, as it was impossible for them to carry it by themselves, so they were curious about what had happened with their last night’s prey. Loki told them a half true: the wolf had outsmarted them and it had taken the boar as a prize –of course, he was not telling them <em>he</em> had handed it to the wolf. All the hunters felt like idiots except for the redhead hunter, who started laughing his ass off: they didn’t think it could be a possibility even if they knew how incredibly intelligent that wolf was. The hunters shared one of their preys with the brothers, and after lunch they went different paths. The hunters told Thor and Loki that if they wanted to go to a village, they should take the path to the left once the river split in two streams, and after, they bid bye-bye.</p>
<p>                It was sunset before they could reach the river branch off. They took a seat by the river and set up a little fireplace by the shore –the hunters told them how to set it up really quickly-, where they roasted a couple of fishes for dinner. Once they had their meal, they laid down on the grass, looking up to the sky where the stars shone brightly above them.</p>
<p>                “There’s no moon tonight” Thor observed.</p>
<p>                It was true, the moon was not on the sky. It was a pretty dark and quiet night. Quieter than any other night they had lived on that Realm. Both brothers looked up to the sky, trying to figure out which one of those stars was their home.</p>
<p>                “Do you think Heimdall is watching us?” Thor asked.</p>
<p>                “There’s plenty of far more interesting things to look after in the universe than us, so I doubt so.” Loki shrugged.</p>
<p>                “Is not his duty to watch over us?”</p>
<p>                “I guess?”</p>
<p>                “Heimdall works a lot. Do you think he’s got day offs?”</p>
<p>                “Does Father have day offs?” Loki raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>                “I don’t know…”</p>
<p>                “No, Thor: of course not. Although I’m positive not having his problematic children around for a while must feel like holidays to him. Now he’s got some days for enjoy peace and tranquility while he doesn’t need to care about his sons getting into trouble.”</p>
<p>                “Unless we get into trouble in here.”</p>
<p>                “Say it louder, Thor: Heimdall has not heard it yet! If he tells Father that we’re planning on getting into trouble in here, Father would not allow us to come back home for a century and a half.”</p>
<p>                “What are we supposed to learn from this journey, anyway?” Thor asked, scratching his head in confusion.</p>
<p>                “He said something about «humbleness», I think. Or about «being defenseless»… I don’t know. Sometimes, I’m certain not even he understands his own words.”</p>
<p>                “Norns bless, I thought I was the only one who doesn’t always understand him.” Thor sighed in relief.</p>
<p>                The brothers fell asleep short after, under Heimdall’s watchful eyes –although they didn’t know this. That night was silent and calm, so quiet the only thing they could hear was the running stream, the distant hoots of a chatty owl, and the wind caressing their skins. But none of that was enough to disturb their slumber. It was a peaceful, new moon night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A farm down below</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thor and Loki are on their way to fin a human village, but something feels off to Loki. Why do they need to find a village? Do they have to do something in there? No, of course not. Loki easily convinces Thor not to go to that human village, but to explore a little more of that realm. On their journey, they met Selene: a young lady who takes care of a farm all by herself, and she offers to give them shelter for the night in exchange for some work.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I translated this while ill from covid, so don't expect it to be even half good translated (sorry). I haven't corrected anything since I translated it (sorry about that too), so if you find I should correct something in specific, please let me know.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun woke them up in the morning and invited them to continue their journey. They found the river branch off a while after noon, and once they were there, Thor started to walk towards the left, but Loki stood where he was, looking down the hill on the right. They were on the upper side of a hill, where the branches of the river descended on opposite directions of it. Loki took a look at the right, where he could see a farm on the distance.</p>
<p>            “What’s the matter? Come ‘on” Thor urged.</p>
<p>             “There’s a farm down there” Loki pointed “Maybe we could stay there for the night.”</p>
<p>             “The hunters told us to go left if we wanted to find a settlement.”</p>
<p>             “And why would we want to find a settlement, anyway? What are we supposed to do in there?”</p>
<p>             Thor remained silent for a moment: Loki was right, they had nothing to do in a human settlement. They had no mission, no errand there; all they had to do was survive without their powers, just as anyone else on Midgard would do. Their command was not to use their peerage nor their powers to get away from any situation. They had to learn how to live a humble life, like every Midgardian.</p>
<p>              “Do you think they would allow us to spend the night there?” Thor asked, looking at that farm under the hill.</p>
<p>            “If we offer them some of these coins I don’t think there would be any problem” Loki shrugged while playing with one of his coins, making it disappear into his sleeve.</p>
<p>              “Loki! Your powers are back!” Thor shouted, excitedly.</p>
<p>              “…It-It was just a trick, Thor…” Loki confessed, drawing out the coin from his sleeve again.</p>
<p>              “Oh…” Thor sighed disappointed.</p>
<p>             Finally they decided to go down to the farm. As they approached, they realized it was way smaller than they had thought. The grounds of the farm were actually pretty big, but the used land was not much: there were just a back garden and some farm animals. They stood by the little wooden house on the middle of the farm, it seemed quite tidy; someone really cared for that place. Right in front of it, there was a big barn.  They walked around the barn and found there was a pen where a cow was chewing the cud. The back door of the barn that went to the pen opened and a fine young adult lady walked outside it, she shook her long and wavy brown hair off with her hand trying to get rid of some wisps of hay she had all over her head. Her skin was darkened by the sun, and her brown eyes looked to the cow, that started running in circles once their eyes met.</p>
<p>               “Come, Belinda: enter the barn” the young lady told her cow “Don’t make me fight you again. Come inside at once.”</p>
<p>             The cow run from her for a while before it decided to finally enter into the barn. The woman shut the door closed as soon as it entered, leaving her outside. Thor and Loki approached to the pen where the woman was, while she was opening the pen’s door. She was carrying two empty big wooden buckets with her.</p>
<p>                “Good evening, fair lady” Thor started “Could we talk with the person in charge of the farm?”</p>
<p>                “You’re talking with her” she answered simply “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”</p>
<p>                “We were wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving us shelter for tonight” Loki said.</p>
<p>                “Where are you heading for?” She asked “Maybe I can tell you where to find a near inn?”</p>
<p>                “We’re not heading anywhere, actually” Thor explained.</p>
<p>                “We head for where the wind takes us” Loki continued.</p>
<p>                “Lucky you, then…”she mumbled, walking to the river.</p>
<p>                She filled the buckets on the river and started walking again towards the pen. Loki made her stop and offered his help, taking the buckets from her –and giving them to Thor right away.</p>
<p>                “We can pay you for your hospitality.” Loki added, showing her some coins.</p>
<p>                “I don’t need money” she shrugged.</p>
<p>               Loki found himself thunderstruck by those words. Was that for real? She didn’t wanted money? Everyone they had encountered seemed to have an issue with money: even the hunters sold their preys for some money. He had indeed not considered there could be someone who wouldn’t need money.</p>
<p>                 “We’ll help you with your farm’s chores!” Thor spoke.</p>
<p>                “Exactly!” Loki nodded. “If you allow us to stay until tomorrow noon, we’ll help you with everything you need. Would that suit you?”</p>
<p>                She sighed once they were once again on the cow’s pen. She opened the door and told Thor were to empty the buckets.</p>
<p>                “Well, the fact is I’ve really neglected my chores around for a while now…” She said as if she was speaking with herself rather than with them. “If you help me with some issues now and with some clean-up tomorrow morning, I’ll allow you two to stay. But you’ll share room with Belinda” She added, pointing her thumb to the barn.</p>
<p>                Thor and Loki stared at the barn before looking again to the young woman.</p>
<p>                “Is it negotiable?” Loki asked.</p>
<p>                “Nope” she shook her head “Take it or leave it.”</p>
<p>                The brothers looked at each other. Thor shrugged, and Loki let go a meekly sigh.</p>
<p>                “What could we help you with, my fair damsel?” Loki asked politely.</p>
<p>                “Well, to begin with: don’t ever call me that again. My name is Selene. Use it.”</p>
<p>                “Pleased to meet you, Selene.” Thor bowed a little “My name is Thor, and this is my bother: Loki.”</p>
<p>                “You two are brothers? Wow, you look as alike as the night and day…” she shrugged with a little grin, taking again the buckets and starting walking to the river again. Both brothers followed her “If you two want to help me: I need to fill both the chickens’ and Belinda’s drinking troughs before the sun goes down. I should also harvest the carrots and the onions, but that can be done tomorrow.”</p>
<p>                “Leave it to us!” Thor announced.</p>
<p>                “Very well” she nodded “I will find you some blankets for tonight.”</p>
<p>              She left them with the buckets to fill the drinking troughs. They managed to fill them up before the sunset, although it took them more time than they would have imagined. The harvest would have to wait until the next day, for the sun was already setting and there were not enough light to get that chore done.</p>
<p>               They knocked on the house’s door and waited patiently for their hostess to open it for them. She invited them to come in and join her for dinner: she had prepared a soup for them, and three steaming bowls were already waiting for them on the table.</p>
<p>                “I had to improvise a little; I’m not used to have guests. I know it’s not much…” she apologized.</p>
<p>                “It’s more than enough, Lady Selene” Loki smiled politely. “I don’t know how we’ll be able to repay your more than gracious hospitality.”</p>
<p>                “Oh, I know the answer to that” Selene replied “I’m not just being polite, I’m feeding you so you won’t pass out tomorrow while working.”</p>
<p>                “We’ll keep that in mind” Thor smiled, taking her comment as a joke.</p>
<p>                Loki took a seat by his brother, in front of their hostess, who divided a bread with her own hands and shared it with them. While the soup was still hot, Selene cracked an egg on the bowl’s edge and added the egg to her soup, mixing it well with her wooden spoon. Loki saw there were more eggs in case they wanted to do as she had, so he copied her and added an egg to his soup as well. The result was much better than he had thought, and its flavor was almost interesting. Even though being simple, that soup was pretty good.</p>
<p>                “Are you soldiers?” she asked, pointing at Thor’s armor.</p>
<p>                “No; we’re gods” Thor mumbled distractedly, trying to figure out what to do with his egg.</p>
<p>                Loki chocked on his soup after hearing his brother say that out loud. He coughed, trying to get it all together.</p>
<p>             “You’re so funny, brother!” Loki said, cleaning his lips with his own sleeve, trying not to cough more. “Don’t take him seriously, Selene: he’s but a jester. We’re obviously not gods, nor soldiers; we’re mere travelers.”</p>
<p>                “So what’s the deal with that big-ass sword? And what with the armor?” she inquired.</p>
<p>                “Those are meant to dissuade bandits from attacking us” Loki explained.</p>
<p>                “I do have soldier training though” Thor alleged proudly.</p>
<p>                “You’ve got idiot training too” Loki whispered, kicking his brother’s shin under the table.</p>
<p>                Selene elected not to ask anything else about the armor, if they did not wanted to tell her, that was none of her business. She finished her soup and let her empty bowl in a wooden pail that she would take to the river the next day to wash the dishes. Loki and Thor copied her. Before heading to the barn, Selene gave them the blankets she had promised.</p>
<p>                “Oh, by the way: close the barn’s door shut and do not get out of there while the moon is at its highest. There’s a dangerous wolf lurking around” Selene advised them.</p>
<p>                “Thank you for the advice, dear Selene. We’ll keep that in mind.” Loki replied, taking the blankets and tossing them onto his brother.</p>
<p>                “And thank you for your generosity, too. Good night, Lady Selene” Thor added.</p>
<p>               Both brothers went to the barn and found a high place where they could sleep, a garret where there were lots of hay bales –more than were needed to feed the farm animals. They made themselves a bed with two bales and a blanket and both laid on it, covering themselves up with another blanket. It was the first time they had shared a bed since they were both kids, when their father had told them about his battle against Jötunheim’s frost giants. They found that story so frightening they slept together in Thor’s bed, just in case a frost giant appeared.</p>
<p>                Of course, it was different now: they were adults. Also, Thor moved in his sleep constantly. When Loki’s dream was on its best, Thor interrupted it by hitting him in the face with his armored arm –because Thor was, for some reason, still wearing his armor. Loki rapidly got out of bed, thinking they were under attack, but he felt like an idiot when he found out it was just Thor fighting something or someone on his sleep. Loki had been dreaming about Amora: she seemed happy to see him back on Asgard and hugged him without any other intention than a mere affectionate hug. That dream had given Loki such a happy feeling he felt like a child, like a truly gullible child. But was it really that gullible, wanting to have someone who really loved and cared for him? Loki tried to lay down again, but Thor was occupying the whole bed and there was no place for him anymore. Loki sighed and went to the garret’s window, taking a look outside.</p>
<p>                The moon, on its first crescent phase day, shone faintly; making it difficult to distinguish the shadows of the night. He stood there, watching the night sky: there was a long white line covering the sky with a blanket of stars, as if it was a pathway on the darkness of the universe. It was not as stunning as Asgard’s night sky, but it was beautiful on its own unique way. Loki thought he wouldn’t mind watching that sky for some more time, if he had to.</p>
<p>            He decided to get out of the barn. It was a nice and warm night, so it seemed a waste to spend that night inside a filthy barn. He had not heard any howl yet, so he was positive the wolf was not around at the moment. Besides, he had not seen Night since they were on the inn.</p>
<p>            He opened the front door and stepped outside, closing it after so the cow wouldn’t go outside if it woke up. He stretched his limbs a little since he was still a little numb. It seemed like it was a good moment for him to take a bath in the river: it had been days without taking a bath nor washing his clothes, and he was starting to feel disgusted with himself and how dirty he was. Also, all his body was itchy.</p>
<p>           He took his shirt off and soaked it into the river, scrubbing it with his hands to wash it. Once he was done washing his shirt, he left it laying on the shore under a rock so the wind wouldn’t make it fly away. He stood and started to undo his pants to wash them as well, but he heard a sound. Loki looked around, but it was too dark for him to see anything. He shrugged, looked down, and kept on undoing his pants. Suddenly, an unexpected push made him fall to the ground on his butt. Before he could stand up again, an enormous black paw was standing on his chest, forcing him to stay down under its weight.</p>
<p>            There it was: Night was right on top of him, threatening him with its massive fangs. The beast lowered its head until its nose was just in front of Loki’s face, its menacing amber eyes glaring at him. The animal growled, showing the young god its impressive teeth. Loki felt an abrupt wave of fear taking the wheels of his body, he was positive he was about to die there. And somehow, it was that feeling that calmed him down. His fear changed into something entirely different. He was fascinated. Loki reached out his hand towards the animal’s face; it started growling louder, but he couldn’t care less. If he was to die, he would do so after stroking that magnificent beast.</p>
<p>             “What an outstanding stateliness…” Loki sighed, caressing the animal’s nose.</p>
<p>            The wolf stopped growling all of a sudden. It titled its head and bow down its hears, stepping aside and allowing Loki to breath freely again. It looked at Loki, infinitely confused, before going backwards until it was a few feet away from the young man, who sat up where he was so he could see the animal. The wolf glared at him with its amber eyes one last time before running away swiftly, towards the forest.</p>
<p>            Once the wolf had disappeared, Loki laid down on the ground again. He palpated his whole body; luckily he was still alive. He sighed in relief before getting into the river with his pants on: if he had to run away, he would rather do it without being naked.</p>
<p>            He went back to bed some time later. Loki took off his soaked pants and let them to dry out on a hay bale, then he pushed Thor aside and got into the bed once more, falling asleep shortly after.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Bossy girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A little of work in exchange for food and shelter did sound much better than it actually was. As princes of Asgard, Thor and Loki are not at all used to all the work Selene needs them to do, and they seem rather exhausted just after having a little of it done. <br/>It is obvious for her they are not just peasants, but most probably nobles. She decides to secretly test their mettle.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is rather long, and probably pretty badly translated (sorry about that). A lot of -BAD- things happened while translating this (my beloved pet suddenly died, everyone stoped talking to me because I was covid possitive (I got it eventhought I wore always my mask on...) and I felt like the last resorts of my sanity went down the sewer at some point). But anyway, life goes on and so do I (unfortunately, tho).</p><p>Warnings:<br/>Loki trying to get away from his work implying he would rather have sex with Selene -it doen't happen anyway, but it's implied. <br/>Thor gets mad and threatens Selene with "consequences". </p><p>That's about all I think.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                “Wake up, sleepyheads!” a feminine voice chanted, entering into the barn. “You’ve got <em>lots</em> of work to do before leaving. Oh, and I’ve prepared breakfast, so come and eat something”</p><p>                The sun had been out for a couple of hours now. Both brothers get out of bed once their hostess left them on their own again.</p><p>                “Why the Hel are you naked?” Thor asked his brother.</p><p>                “I washed my clothes last night, and I wasn’t sleeping wearing wet clothes” Loki shrugged.</p><p>                “And you had to sleep naked by my side?”</p><p>                “My first option was sleeping with the cow, to be honest. It moves less on its sleep than you do.” Loki joked, putting his pants on.</p><p>                “You should probably have slept with it then!” and then Thor realized: “Wait, you went outside last night?”</p><p>                “Yes, I did. You slapped me on your sleep and woke me up, so I went outside to get some fresh air”</p><p>                “But that wolf…”</p><p>                “Night is a fascinating animal, isn’t she? What with her?”</p><p>                Thor didn’t say anything else. If Loki was there, it must be because it was safe to go outside at nights. Thor went downstairs while Loki was looking for his shirt, but he couldn’t find it. It probably was still by the river, so he went there for it, but couldn’t find it there either. He sighed, getting into his head he had lost it.</p><p>                Loki walked into Selene’s house and smelt the scent of boiled milk, fresh bread, and soft-boiled eggs she had prepared for them. He took a seat by his brother while their hostess was taking care of something else.</p><p>                “Have you find your shirt?” Thor asked.</p><p>                “I’m afraid I haven’t.” Loki shrugged with a smile “You should get used to see me like this, brother. I only hope for our lovely hostess not to get too distracted watching <em>this</em> body around.”</p><p>                “Ugh. You better put on a shirt before you get a cold” She told Loki, handing him his shirt.</p><p>                “Where…? When?” Loki asked perplexed, taking his shirt and putting it on.</p><p>                “I found it this morning by the river, while I was washing the dishes” she explained.</p><p>                “Thank you” Loki smiled.</p><p>                She took a seat and started having breakfast. It was pretty simple, but it was even good. Once they had eaten, she told them all the chores they had do get done before leaving:</p><p>                “Ok, guys: I need you to clean Belinda’s barn and pen, and also the henhouse; I also need you to spread manure all over the unused garden to prepare it for new crops. Oh, and you’ll also help me harvesting onions and carrots”</p><p>                “All that before noon?” Thor shouted.</p><p>                “Don’t worry if you cannot do all of it before noon” she said with an understanding smile “You can stay until you finish!”</p><p>                “Wow. You were really waiting for someone to need a bed, weren’t you?” Loki laughed.</p><p>                “You have <em>no</em> idea!” she nooded.</p><p>                Thor and Loki stood up and went to the door of the house, preparing themselves mentally for all the work they had to do for the day before leaving.</p><p>                “Uh, Loki” She called “A word, please?”</p><p>                Both men looked at each other. What could she want from him? Loki smiled to his brother before going back into the little house with her. Maybe there was another way to repay her for allowing them to stay?</p><p>                “Do you require me, darling?” Loki asked with a flirty smile.</p><p>                “Yes. I told you not to go outside during the night.” She crossed her arms over her chest “You’re lucky you’re still alive. That paw-print bruise on your chest proves it.”</p><p>                “Did my nude torso draw that much of your attention?” he whispered with his silky voice, even flirtier. “Not even my brother noticed it.”</p><p>                “Maybe your brother is not as watchful as I am.” She replied simply “Although it’s quite difficult not to see it when you’re standing right in front of me”</p><p>                “Do you want to see more of me?” Loki asked flirty.</p><p>                Now that he had started, he would finish it. If there was a single chance for not working, he would take it. Even if it meant getting laid with a human. She raised an eyebrow, giving Loki a stoic glare.</p><p>                “Would you be a good man and come with me, please?” she asked.</p><p>                “Of course, dear. I’ll come with you.” He smiled, thinking he had her.</p><p>                Selene got out of her house and walked around it, Loki following her. She stopped by a shed, took out the thick plank that kept the door shut, and opened it. It was full with tools and materials, making it fairly impossible for even stepping inside. There was only a little space left on the floor for stepping a single foot inside the shed.</p><p>                “It seems a little… narrow. But I guess we could still fit inside if we got <em>closer</em>.” Loki commented.</p><p>                Selene entered the shed and, after looking for something, she tossed something at Loki from the inside. Loki catch it quickly and took a look at it; it was a filthy wooden bucket with two scrubbing brushes inside. Loki looked puzzled at Selene, who grinned cocky.</p><p>                “Oh, did I forgot to tell you?” she asked, stepping outside once more. “You two are going to scrub and wash the henhouse’s floor and walls until they shine. You can tell your brother it was all your fault, because you thought you could get rid of the work by seducing me.”</p><p>                Loki’s puzzled face changed into a greatly surprised grin.</p><p>                “Heh. I <em>like</em> you.” Loki smiled.</p><p>                “By the end of the day, you will think I’m a demon” she shrugged, closing the shed with the thick plank again. “And you’ll be probably right.”</p><p>                <em>Oh was she right</em>! Before noon, both Thor and Loki were absolutely certain she was the devil. They had not even cleaned half of Belinda’s barn, and hadn’t started with the pen yet. They were not used to that kind of work, and of course they were hating it.</p><p>                “Let’s get out of here tonight, while she sleeps” Thor suggested.</p><p>                “Sounds good to me” Loki nodded, his forehead filled with little sweat pearls.</p><p>                They heard Selene’s voice calling them from outside the barn, so they acted like they were just working and not planning their own scape. She opened the door a little and peered in, sticking her head inside the barn.</p><p>                “Wow… You’ve barely made any progress…” she sighed. “Lunch is served, care to join me?”</p><p>                They let their shovels fall to the ground, as if having them on their hands make them burn –well, to be fair, it have given their hands lots of blisters and some splinters had pocked them as well. They followed Selene to her house. Their jaws were on the floor when they stepped inside and saw the table full of food. There was a roasted pheasant, cooked on its own juice; a plate with different stewed vegetables; and a cherry pie that looked absolutely delicious. The brothers took a seat by the table, letting their bodies fall onto the chairs, and staring delightedly at the feast their hostess had prepared for them.</p><p>                “Serve yourselves, don’t be shy!” She smiled happily “I know you’ve been working hard, even if you made little progress. The less I could do for you is cooking a good meal.”</p><p>                They nodded, not knowing what to say, and started serving themselves. She waited for them to be served before putting some food on her own dish. After all the hard work, they welcomed that meal as a divine intervention to save them. It was extremely delicious –or maybe they were just starving. They devoured their meals and had some more; she smiled while watching they eat. She had never been really proud of her cooking skills, but at least they were enjoying it. The young gods devoured every edible thing on the table, and then she cut the pie for them. It was the tastier pie they have had ever in their lives.</p><p>                “If it was for the food, I would stay in here forever” Loki said, licking clean his fingers after having the pie.</p><p>                “If it was for the work, just until tonight. Right?” She mumbled.</p><p>                Thor’s last piece of pie hit his plate while both brothers looked at her.</p><p>                “You heard us…” Thor murmured.</p><p>                “Yes. But, hey, don’t worry! It might be better this way…” She said with a forced smile.</p><p>                “We didn’t mean to be ungrateful” Loki explained.</p><p>                “It’s just… we’re not used to all this work” Thor continued.</p><p>                “It’s ok, I understand. Just, please, at least clean the barn before leaving…” She asked, putting the dishes inside the wooden pale.</p><p>                While she went outside with her pale full of dishes, they looked at one another. They were feeling guilty after realizing they had probably offended her and her hospitality. She had asked for nothing but a little work, and she had given them lots of food and a roof to sleep under. They stood up, decided to make the barn and the pen as clean as possible before leaving.</p><p>                It took them all the afternoon, but they made it. Before the sunset they had cleaned up both the barn and the pen. They were terribly exhausted, but after finishing their job they gathered their stuff and looked for Selene to bid her farewell. They found her harvesting some onions at her garden.</p><p>                “Are you leaving now?” She asked, cleaning her hands on her apron. “It’s getting dark, it is not safe for you to leave now.”</p><p>                “Yeah, the wolf. We know.” Thor nodded.</p><p>                “I don’t think she would attack us: Night has no interest in hunting people.” Loki shrugged.</p><p>                “<em>Night</em>?” Selene stood up “Well, it seems everyone gives it a new name: «Shadow», «Nightmare», «Terror Beast»…</p><p>                “Yeah, whatever. We would rather go now, while the sun is still out." Thor interrupted her.</p><p>                “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to stay for dinner? I lit the fire on the oven up a couple of hours ago and I was about to put a chicken with vegetables in.”</p><p>                “I would rather leave now” Thor insisted.</p><p>                “I was thinking on making another pie for dinner. I guess I can eat it on my own though.” She added.</p><p>                The brothers looked to one another, asking the other with their eyes what they thought of her offering. Finally, Loki shrugged with a smile and Thor let go a sigh –although he was also smiling. A pie had won them.</p><p>                “If you don’t mind, sweet Selene” Loki started “We will accept your most gracious offer.”</p><p>                “Yay! Wonderful!” she jumped happily on her feet. “Oh, by the way: could you please harvest some onions and carrots while I cook? I mean, if you don’t mind. It is not necessary to harvest all of them, just some.”</p><p>                “I’m bringing back our stuff to the barn” Thor sighed.</p><p>                “Don’t worry, Selene. You can leave it to us” Loki nodded.</p><p>                She left, hopping happily to her house, where the oven was already lit. Once Thor came back from the barn, each brother chose a garden: Thor decided to harvest the onions, while Loki harvested the carrots. When they had harvested half of their gardens, they heard Selene calling them.</p><p>                “Hey, guys! I need some carrots, can you bring them, please?” she asked opening a window.</p><p>                Loki took a handful of carrots and left the garden while Thor glared at him. Loki entered Selene’s house and saw her working on the kitchen’s countertop, her back turned. She was cutting some dried garlics and putting them into a ceramic pot already filled with onions and a raw chicken. She just needed the carrots to have it all ready to get cooked.</p><p>                “I bring you your carrots, my lady” Loki announced, playfully.</p><p>                She tilted her head and looked at him.</p><p>                “You brought a <em>lot</em> of carrots” she told him. “I appreciate it, but I just need a couple of them. Can you go to the river and wash a couple of those carrots for me, please?”</p><p>                “Of course” he nodded.</p><p>                He came back after a while. She finished cutting garlics and was spicing the chicken up when Loki entered the house again. He thought I could be fun give her a little scare, so he got stealthily closer to where she was. He was just a couple feet away from her, ready to shout from behind and see her jump like a scared cat.</p><p>                “Don’t <em>you</em> dare!” she suddenly said.</p><p>                 Loki stepped back, surprised for her perception.</p><p>                “Where are the carrots?” she asked, peering at him.</p><p>                “Here. Here you have them.”</p><p>                Loki gave her the carrots and waited inside the house while she cut them into slices and added them to the mix in the pot. He had no intention of going back to the garden, so he stayed around, examining Selene’s house. It was pretty cozy, actually. While there was no food on the table, there was a little jar with red flowers Loki had never seen. There was a little bed on a corner of the house, and it was so perfectly made it seemed like nobody had slept on it ever, it had not even a fold nor a crease. On the other side of the room there was a hearth, and over it, there were some books, which was kind of odd since there were not so many people who knew how to read. </p><p>                “Do you read?” Loki asked, picking a book.</p><p>                “Sometimes” she nodded.</p><p>                “I didn’t thought you could read” he murmured.</p><p>                “Why? Because I’m a woman? Or because I’m a peasant?” Selene asked, offended.</p><p>                “Because there are not many people who can read, especially farmers” he answered.</p><p>                She kept cutting carrots, but faster. Loki realized immediately he had bothered her.</p><p>                “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.” He apologized.</p><p>                “Shouldn’t you be outside, helping your brother?” she said, adding the carrot in the pot.</p><p>                Loki went to a window and took a look at his brother, who was still outside having a really bad time harvesting the onions. He seemed exhausted and angry, which made his little brother to giggle under his breath. All that hard work without their powers really made them see life with different eyes: it was quite difficult to survive without magic, but midgardians were able to do so anyway. Every day, they had to face dangers –like Night- with nothing but some rudimentary traps and weapons and after all that, they went home again, as if nothing had happened. Loki would never admit it, but he was starting to find Midgard an interesting place.</p><p>                “Nah, I think Thor is doing just fine” Loki smiled while watching his brother suffer a little.</p><p>                “You two are not used to work” Selene commented. “You don’t look like hunters either. Actually, I don’t think you like to get yourselves dirty at all. And it is nearly impossible for you to be merchants because you haven’t tried to sell nor buy me anything yet. You two are nobles, right?”</p><p>                Loki turned so he could see Selene directly into her eyes. She had just put the pot into the oven and was cleaning her hands with a cloth, looking at him. He was amazed with her fairly accurate deductions.</p><p>                “You’re really perceptive, you know?” he smiled.</p><p>                “Answer my question. Please.”</p><p>                “You could say so: we’re a kind of nobles. Just we’re not from around here.” He shrugged.</p><p>                “Yeah, I’m aware: you hadn’t threatened me nor tried to burn my farm to the ground yet, even if I’ve been impolite.”</p><p>                “Do the nobles from around really do that?” Loki looked at her concerned.</p><p>                “They… do worse than that.” She sighed, hugging herself and looking away. She needed to change the subject “Go and tell your brother he can stop harvesting. You two should take a bath in the river before dinner. And, please, ask him to take his armor off already: it smells like a corpse.”</p><p>                “Selene, if you knew nobles behave like that, why did you take the risk testing us? What would you have done if…?” Loki seemed to be even more concerned.</p><p>                “I don’t want to talk about it. Please, go with your brother.” She asked under her breath.</p><p>                Loki let it go; if she didn’t want to talk about it, he knew how to stop asking. It was obvious she had a story she was not willing to share with him, so Loki accepted it was not his concern and went outside looking for Thor, who was all covered with sweat and dirt. Loki helped his brother to take his armor out –the reason Thor had not done it before was because he had always had his servants’ help to do so- and both bathed in the river. They only got out when Selene called them for dinner. Both brothers felt exhausted after all the work they had done for the day; after they had finished cleaning the pen, they still had some strength to keep working, but after harvesting they were unable to take a single step more.</p><p>                The brothers went inside Selene’s house and were welcomed by the sweet scent of fresh cooked food. They took a seat by the table, their mouths dropped on the sight of such delicious fest their hostess had cooked for them.</p><p>                They devoured everything that touched their plates, unable to even think of having some sort of conversation. Once she finished her dinner, she stood and looked for something inside the kitchen’s cupboard. She sit down again, bringing with her a jar of cherry jam she had made herself some time ago.</p><p>                “Where’s the pie?” Thor asked.</p><p>                “I’m afraid I lied: there’s no pie. Sorry.” she shrugged.</p><p>                “There’s no pie?” Thor blinked in disbelief.</p><p>                “There’s no pie” she nodded.</p><p>                “The pie was a lie!” Thor shouted.</p><p>                “We cannot have it all, brother” Loki shrugged, giving Thor a pat on his back.</p><p>                “There might be no pie, but you can try this cherry jam” She suggested, spreading some jam over a piece of bread and offering it to any of them “I made it myself, and it’s what I used for making this morning’s pie, so you’ll probably like it as well”.</p><p>                “I’ll try it, thank you” Loki said, accepting her offering with a smile.</p><p>                “I wanted a pie…” Thor whined while Loki nibbled his bread with jam.</p><p>                “Try this, brother: it’s as good as the pie” Loki told him.</p><p>                “No! We spent our whole day working for her!” Thor stood up angrily and punched the table. “She didn’t let us go when we wanted to, promising a pie she didn’t make! She made a simple promise she didn’t bothered on keeping! Such an act has consequences on Asgard.”</p><p>                “Thor, calm down.” Loki asked.</p><p>                Selene stoop up as well, looking Thor right into his eyes. He was angry, but she was not afraid at all. She was not willing to accept someone shouting at her in her own house.</p><p>                “If you’re going to behave like a child because I didn’t cooked what you wanted me to, I would ask you to grab your stuff and leave my farm immediately, because I’m not going to shelter nor waste more food on someone this selfish.” She said firmly.</p><p>                “So be it” Thor stormed out.</p><p>                Loki didn’t know how to apologize for his brother behavior. He wanted to say he was sorry for how Thor behaved, but his words would be so vain they didn’t even made it out his mind. What good would it made if it was him the one to apologize instead of his brother? Loki stood and went outside, looking for Thor, who was already inside the barn, packing their stuff.</p><p>                 “Thor, listen to me” Loki started, approaching his brother carefully, “You need to apologize. She has been a good hostess: she gave us food and a roof over our heads in exchange for some work. And yes, she lied to us about a <em>pie</em>, but that doesn’t make her a bad person”.</p><p>                “Those acts are not let unpunished on Asgard” Thor barked.</p><p>                “Just in case you haven’t notice, we’re not on Asgard, Thor. And it was a little unimportant lie. You’re angry because you’re exhausted; I’m exhausted too. That’s why I’m asking you to apologize. We need to rest before leaving, but she won’t let us stay if you don’t apologize.”</p><p>                “Well, I’m not apologizing” Thor shook his head.</p><p>                Loki sighed deeply: he knew it would take a time for Thor to forget about it, and he was not thinking clearly while he was still mad, so he was leaving anyway. Loki went outside the barn, ready to ask for forgiveness on his brother’s behalf –something he was already getting used to do. He knocked on Selene’s door, but she didn’t answered. She was probably mad on both of them for Thor’s behavior, so Loki came back to the barn. Thor had gathered all their stuff and was waiting for him outside.</p><p>                “Let’s go” Thor said.</p><p>                “I’m not leaving” Loki shook his head.</p><p>                “What? Why not?”</p><p>                “Because this is what Father told us to do: work like they do. He wanted us to live like them, to understand how it is like to be just a peasant.”</p><p>                “Are you sure he wanted us to experience this?”</p><p>                “I’m positive, yes. But I’m sure as well he won’t let us go back until you apologize to her about your behavior.”</p><p>                “And why is that?” Thor crossed his arms.</p><p>                “Because you used your peerage against her. You threatened her over a <em>pie</em>, Thor. Everything because you’re used everyone on Asgard has to act as you want them to.”</p><p>                “I’m still not apologizing. I don’t see why I’m the one who needs to apologize anyway.”</p><p>                “Then leave. If she does not kicks me out because of you, I’ll be here” Loki shrugged.</p><p>                Thor grabbed his belongings and left, walking by the river. Loki looked at his brother walking away until he was unable to see him anymore due the darkness of the night. He sighed once he had no sight of his brother and entered the barn, closing the door behind. At least, he could sleep without his brother slapping him out of the bed.</p><p>                And he had such a placid dream: he was resting on the grass, looking up to the blue sky filled with orange clouds he was able to touch sometimes with his own hands. Amora was laying by his side, or so he thought because when she sat up to kiss him, it was not Amora’s face he saw. He did not recognized any face on her, or at least his subconscious wouldn’t tell him whose face it was. But he couldn’t care less: in his dreams, there was someone who loved him and wanted to be by his side, and that was everything he cared about.</p><p>                “LOKI, OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE, OPEN THE DOOR!” Thor’s shouts from outside the barn made Loki come back from his dream into reality.</p><p>                “Thor?” Loki asked himself sleepily under his breath.</p><p>                Loki stood up and walked to the barn’s window and looked outside. It was close night, and those were definitely Thor’s shouts, and he was knocking on the door with both hands. Since Loki was not opening, Thor ran to Selene’s door and knocked on it.</p><p>                “I’M SORRY, I’M SO SORRY! I’VE BEHAVED LIKE AN IDIOT! PLEASE, OPEN THE DOOR!” Thor shouted in front of Selene’s door.</p><p>                Loki climbed down the stairs from the garret and opened the barn’s door while Thor kept knocking on Selene’s door.</p><p>                “Thor? Is everything alright?” Loki asked, opening the door and stepping outside.</p><p>                “Loki! Norns bless!” Thor cried in relief, running towards his brother and making both of them to enter the barn again.</p><p>                Once they were inside again, Thor closed the door with a thick wooden plank and some hay bales to block it.</p><p>                “What happened to you?” Loki asked, taking a look at Thor’s shattered armor.</p><p>                “That wolf”</p><p>                “Night?”</p><p>                “It’s a beast! It took me into its jaws and shook me like a ragdoll” Thor explained, almost scared. Loki had never seen his brother scared, it was new. “It could have killed me if I didn’t had my armor.”</p><p>                “Where is your sword?”</p><p>                “That wolf bit it away from my hands and threw it far away!”</p><p>                “Did she followed you?”</p><p>                “I thought so. It chased me all the way to here. But it seems it’s no longer following me.”</p><p>                “Night let you scape, like she did with that legless hunter” Loki deduced.</p><p>                “I will stay in here for the night” Thor decided “Tomorrow I’ll apologize to Selene before leaving.”</p><p>                “You’re leaving again?”</p><p>                “I will look for those hunter and help them hunt that beast. Nobody is safe while it is still alive.”</p><p>                “I don’t think Night is that dangerous?”</p><p>                “It is easy to say when you’ve not been in between its jaws!”</p><p>                «She had me under her paw, that should count» Loki thought, but he didn’t say anything.</p><p>                 Thor climbed up the stairs to the garret and let himself fall on the bed, his shattered metal armor vibrating alongside his owner, who would never admit it but was terrified. The metallic grating sound was way too annoying for Loki to even think about sleeping, so he went outside using the pen’s door. He took a seat on a frayed hay bale and decided he would meditate for a while, so he remained siting on that bale, with his eyes closed, his back straight and his hands resting on his knees. Meditation was something Loki did only when he needed to find some peace and relax a little. It was his way out of reality.</p><p>                He mediated about his former dream, the one he had before Thor interrupted it shouting and hammering the door carelessly. Loki couldn’t understand why Amora’s face was not Amora’s anymore, he didn’t know who that face belonged to either. He thought about his relationship with her, about how it felt odd like something important was missing on it. Feelings, probably… While his brother had everything on Asgard –including lots of friends who would run around Thor and tell him how good he was on everything he did-, Loki had nothing of the sort. All he had on Asgard was Amora, but she would make fun of him whenever a spell he conjured didn’t work the way it should. And yes, they shared pretty good bed moments, but that was about all. That was their relationship –if it could be called so. He needed someone to rely on; someone willing to listen to him and have a real conversation sometimes; and, of course, someone who would actually love him and show it for once.</p><p>                Loki opened his eyes, feeling more stressed and exhausted than before. He felt pity for himself, and rage for his life of misfortune. It all would have been easier if he had been Odin’s firstborn.</p><p>                A loud sound of footsteps at the outside of the pen made him aware that he was not alone there. Loki turned around and saw Night, calmly sniffing the ground quietly. Loki stood on the bale and leaned out the fence, trying to observe carefully all of that wolf’s features. Night’s fur was shiny, almost as if the animal made sure to maintain it tidy. The wolf raised its head and looked directly at Loki with its bright amber eyes, sniffing the air without making any movement.</p><p>                “If you’re looking for that armored moron, he went that way” Loki told Night, pointing to the left.</p><p>                Night looked to where he pointed and sniffed the air on that direction. The animal glared back at Loki with an increasing suspicion. If the animal had had eyebrows, it would had probably raised one of them.</p><p>                “Ok, you got me: he’s inside the barn, trembling like a chick on a winter’s night” Loki confessed, pointing his thumb at the barn. “Wouldn’t you rather bite me instead?”</p><p>                Night sat down right where it was, looking at Loki with. If that wolf would had the ability to do so, it would had probably sighed.</p><p>                “Every person I’ve met in here thinks you’re some kind of vicious monster…” Loki started; Night looked away. “But I fail to see you the way they do. You had many chances to kill me, but you didn’t… Why?”</p><p>                Night scratched its own ear using its hind leg before standing up. It started to walk to the river and took a last look at Loki before crossing it and disappearing into the mountain’s forest. On the other side, Loki decided that hay bale was comfy enough, so he felt sleep laying on it. He felt safe in there, he knew Night wouldn’t hurt him.</p><p>                He dreamt about a naked feminine body, washing blood stains on the river’s waters. He dreamt the sun was coming out. And after, he didn’t dream anything else until the sun came out completely.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A beast under our same roof</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thor leaves the farm and Loki behind. But Loki couldn't care less. In fact - Loki hadn't felt so good in a long time. All those months he spends with Selene make him see his life with new eyes. For the first time in forever, he feels he's an important part of something. He feels at home. He feels better than he ever felt on Asgard. How could that be?</p><p>Day by day he discovers why he's feeling that way: he has fallen in love with the young farmer. He fell in love with her calm simple life and her warm lovely smiles.</p><p>But nothing can be always that perfect, or can it? She hides a secret that might as well end with the simplicity of their lives for good.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings: she sais a "bad word"? I guess that counts as a warning??? Althought it's a bad word about God, so if you're pretty religious you might want to hang me or something? (If so, just please go ahead and do so).<br/>A death is mentioned a little? -is about a character that's not even a secondary, that poor man. (Also, I mentioned it as well up there^... Yeah, sorry 'bout that lol)</p><p>Also, it's probably poorly translated. It's almost 4am, and hey, I don't get to choose when the inspiration comes!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Belinda the Cow woke Loki up while trying to chow some hay under him. Of course, in the process, Belinda licked all the poor god’s face and forced him to get up from the hay. Loki stood up and looked around, trying to find Selene, who he could hear giggling from the barn’s open door. She put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her smile.</p><p>“Belinda really is a good hairdresser” Selene laughed. Loki touched his hair and found out the cow had licked his bangs over his head.</p><p>“Ha, ha. Really funny” Loki mumbled, trying to get all the cow slobber out of his hair.</p><p>“You should wash yourself a little on the river” Selene smiled at him. “By the way, where’s your brother? I heard him yelling last night”</p><p>“He must be asleep upstairs” Loki pointed at the barn “He left on the night and the wolf chased him back here. I’ve never seen him be afraid anything until now.”</p><p>“I heard him apologizing to me while asking for my help.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you open the door, then?” Loki asked, opening the pen’s gate.</p><p>“He apologized because he needed me, not because he was sorry. I will not accept an insincere apology”</p><p>Loki smiled before closing the gate and walked to the river. He washed his face and hair with the clear water and decided to leave his bangs over his head –at first he thought it as a joke, but he was starting to like how he looked like that. Once he felt himself clean enough, he went to Selene’s house, from where he could smell a sweet and fruity scent coming from. Once he stepped in, he noticed she had baked another pie. A smaller one compared with the last one she baked.</p><p>“Hide it before Thor comes in: he doesn’t deserve it” Loki joked.</p><p>“Of course he doesn’t deserve it, that’s why it is smaller than yesterday’s. It’s just for the two of us.”</p><p>Loki chuckled while accepting his piece of pie and took a seat by his hostess.</p><p>“Do you happen to have a fan?” Loki asked “Or something for fanning?”</p><p>Selene had no idea why would Loki want a fan, but she looked for one anyway. Inside a crate, she found an old fan made out of wood eaten away by woodworms and dusty frayed fabric. She gave Loki the old thing and he looked at her with a mischievous grin.</p><p>“Oh, this will be fun” he said to himself.</p><p>Loki stood up, took both his plate with his remaining pie and the old fan and walked to the door, Selene followed him out of curiosity. He opened the door and fanned his pie towards the barn, where Thor was most probably still asleep.</p><p>“I can hardly believe how <em>good</em> your pies are, Selene!” Loki shouted, trying to wake his bother up “You must be the goddess of baking, no doubt!”</p><p>“Pie…!” both heard Thor’s voice coming from inside the barn.</p><p>“Come into the house, run” Loki whispered Selene.</p><p>Loki kept fanning the pie from the inside to bait Thor more, who was already making noises inside the barn. Selene and Loki heard a loud metallic noise, and Loki was certain his brother had fell down the garret. Selene giggled while Loki hid the fan inside a drawer. Thor opened the barn’s door as fast as he could, but Loki was faster and finished his pie before Thor could ask for a single bite.</p><p>“You have a gift for cooking, my Selene” Loki told her, licking clean his fingers and giving her the empty dish.</p><p>“Where’s the pie?” Thor asked.</p><p>“There’s none left, I ate the whole thing, sorry brother. It was simply too delicious to resist. You should have get up earlier” Loki shrugged with a smirk.</p><p>“Wow, that wolf left your armor looking like a colander” Selene mocked Thor, Loki tried not to laugh.</p><p>“Do you find this fun?” Thor barked.</p><p>“Yes. Yes, I do.” She answered, fearless. And stood arrogant in front of Thor, her arms crossed. “You messed up with a creature you don't understand. You think all animals behave the same way, so you tried to fool it; just to realize it was the wolf who played you all along and not the other way around. If it would have actually wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now. But it showed you more respect than you would ever have for it.”</p><p>“That’s nonsense” Thor mumbled.</p><p>“Think whatever you want” Selene went inside her house again.</p><p>“Ugh. Who does she thinks she is talking to me like that?” Thor was furious.</p><p>“She’s right: you played with fire, and you got burnt” Loki stopped Thor from getting inside the house to keep arguing with her. “You shouldn’t have left during the night.”</p><p>“Are you taking her side now?” Thor barked.</p><p>“I always take the side of the winner, Thor. And she’s right”</p><p>Selene came out from the house once more, carrying with her an improvised package made with a knotted handkerchief.</p><p>“Here, take this” She said to Thor harshly. “Supplies for your journey. You clearly don’t deserve these, but I don’t know how to be a bad person…”</p><p>Thor, utterly confused, accepted the package. He looked to his brother Loki, whose eyes were asking him to apologize to her once and for all.</p><p>“Lady Selene: I’m sorry for my behavior” Thor started “My conduct towards you has been truly inappropriate. I’m sorry I've behaved like…”</p><p>“Like a child” she cut him off. “All nobles are the same: someone says «no» to you, next thing you know from them is their head has been put on a spike. Unfortunately, I’m used to that kind of behavior”.</p><p>“I’m… trying to apologize” Thor was starting to look red in anger.</p><p>“I don’t need an empty apology.” She firmly said “If you’re not really sorry, I don’t want to hear it. You both can leave my farm whenever you feel like it, but I would advise it to be during the day. Unless you’re willing to find yourself between vicious fangs once more.”</p><p>“Actually…” Loki started “I would like to stay for some time. I mean, if you don’t mind”.</p><p>“Are you really planning to stay in here?” Thor snarled angry. “After how she treated us?!”</p><p>“You sow winds and then you get shocked when the storms are ready for the harvest, Thor” Loki sighed “Yes, I want to stay. I feel it’s the right thing to do.”</p><p>“As you wish” Thor groaned frustrated before walking away without looking back.</p><p>Loki and Selene stood on her porch while they saw the blonde man walk away towards the horizon.</p><p>“Your brother really has a bad temper” mumbled Selene. “I’m glad you two aren’t quite alike”.</p><p>“Are you fine with me staying here, then?” Loki asked just to be sure.</p><p>“Sure. As long as you help me with the farm chores, of course you can stay”</p><p>“I’ll do my best. Thank you” he smiled.</p><p>Selene knew he was not lying: he seemed actually willing to help her. She showed him how things worked on the farm. She explained her routine for taking care of everything around during the day and still have some spare time before the sunset. After explaining all that, both started with the chores: first of all, they feed the animals –Belinda the cow and a dozen of chickens-, and while doing it, she told him how to milk the cow and how to make sure the eggs weren’t fertilized before taking them home. Once they were done with that one, she explained how to harvest onions easily. Loki mentally took notes of everything she told him, and also, he noted all the chores they had to do in a single day to have it all done before sunset -and it felt overwhelming. How could she find all that easy?</p><p>His first week in Selene’s farm felt merciless to say the least. He ended everyday on his knees -almost literally. Selene had to help him walk back home, where she would sit him on a chair while she made dinner for both, or read a book. He used to feel sleep there, and she felt kind of guilty every time she had to wake him up for dinner. She kept telling him the first week was always the worst, and promissing that he would be feeling better with the passing weeks. She was sure he would be walking home by himself by the end of the next week, but he hardly believed her words. There was no way he could get used to that kind of torture.</p><p>But she was right. By the end of his third week he found his feet were hurting less than before. He was even able to walk back to the house on his own. And even though it still hurt and he was exhausted, Loki was able to stay awake while she made dinner for both. He promised once he was fully used to the pain, he would help her make dinner. She smiled softly at him and took his word.</p><p>A month and a half passed by, and he felt already as he belonged there. He had memorized every chore, and every morning he would wake up with the sunrise and start doing some of them before breakfast so they could have more spare time before sunset. After spending all day working there, he found he had not only enough energy to walk back home but also for even helping her making dinner, so he fulfilled his promise and every time it was possible he would cook alongside her. Sometimes, he would ask her about her life –finding himself surprisingly interested on the matter. But most of all, he wanted to know how she ended up alone in the middle of the nowhere taking care of a farm.</p><p>“I lost my home in a fire” she explained while distractedly playing with her food. “My parents and everything I had disappeared that night. The actual owner of this farm took me in out of pity: he was an old widowed man whose children had died of illness while they were still kids, so he was completely alone in here. He had had an accident short before I appeared looking for shelter and his leg was becoming gangrenous, so he needed a lot of help with his farm. He gave me shelter and food in exchange of some work. Same I offered you and your brother.”</p><p>“Was it as hard for you to get used to the work as it has been for me?” Loki smiled softly.</p><p>“It was even <em>harder</em>. When he was around, there were five more cows, like twenty chicken, around ten pigs and four more gardens of vegetables and fruit. It was hell on earth. But I would rather die working here than lost in the woods, so I stayed and learnt how everything worked around here.”</p><p>“What happened to him?”</p><p>“His leg got worse. He couldn’t stand his own pain, so he decided to wander outside during the night, waiting for the wolf. I did everything I was able to help him, but still…”</p><p>“It…must’ve been tough.”</p><p>“Once you’ve lost as much as I have, another one biting the dust feels… empty.” She sighed, but it was obvious she was still hurt for her past. “I buried him under the cherry tree. I stayed and took care of the farm for him. But I alone couldn’t possibly keep everything, so I had to get rid of some things. First, almost every cow and all the pigs, then half of the chickens… And, finally, I had to abandon half of the garden. If he were to wake up from the grave, he would shout at me for a whole week about how poorly I’m taking care of his farm. He had quite a temper...”</p><p>“Maybe, now that I am here, I could help you bring back this farm’s old glory” Loki suggested with a sincere smile.</p><p>“Oh, no need. I can still keep myself alive with all I have right now, I don’t need more. But I’m thankful you want to help me with all this. Really. Thank you, Loki.” She smiled softly, and so did him.</p><p>More and more weeks passed by, and Loki started to know who had substituted Amora on his dreams. And he didn’t know how to feel about it. He sure felt a lot of respect and appreciation for his hostess, he would even say he had got a little attached to her, but he didn’t feel it was appropriate to think about her that way. Although, he found that feeling almost innocent. She had helped him get used to the hard work of the farm, and all that without making fun of him, without complaining about his incompetence. Instead, she had helped him in every way she was able to, telling him how to improve. She was all patience and understanding. And yes, there were moments where she would laugh at him, but she would do so only when even he was laughing about his own misfortunes –like that one time when he managed to get buried under a whole handcart full of manure. But always he stumbled, she was there to help him up on his feet again. And she had always that sweet and caring smile on her face.</p><p>After three months more, he was sure he could work in there for the rest of his life and feel fulfilled. Not because it was easy, not because he liked it in there, but because it was where she was. For Loki, Selene was home. He felt at peace while she was around. But he had not the courage necessary to tell her so.</p><p>During all the time he stayed in the farm he had no news of Thor, nor had Loki seen the wolf more than a couple of times around the farm. But his brother was most probably alive; otherwise, their father would had make them come back to Asgard. Or maybe Thor was already on Asgard and the only one still stranded on Midgard was him… However, he couldn’t care less.</p><p>It was all peace in there, until one day Loki decided to scrub and wash the henhouse’s floor and walls until they shine, like she had told him long ago. Not because she told him to do so, but because that night he had had an indecorous dream about her and he felt so guilty he could hardly see her in the eyes, so he decided to wash the henhouse, trying to wash his own conscience with it. Selene, who was at the moment milking Belinda, saw him filling a bucket on the river.</p><p>“If you’re filling it up for the chickens: they have water already!” She told him.</p><p>“It is for the chickens, just not for drinking” he explained “I’m going to scrub and wash the henhouse’s floor and walls”.</p><p>“What? Why?” she asked confused.</p><p>“Because I just remembered I didn’t do it when I was supposed to do so” he shrugged.</p><p>“T-That was a joke, Loki! I didn’t expect you to do it anyway. Come on, come here.”</p><p>Loki walked into the pen while she was still milking the cow. She had her sleeves all up to the elbow and a cloth on her forehead for preventing sweat and hair to fall into the bucket of milk. Once Loki was by her side, she stood from her seat on the stool and wiped her hands on her apron.</p><p>“I was not serious when I told you that” she explained “I thought you knew! I just wanted to mess with you after…”</p><p>“I know. I went too far with you just because I wanted to get rid of all that work, and I am sorry. I know you weren’t serious about it, but I want to do so anyway.” He took her hands “I feel it’s the right thing to do.”</p><p>Loki looked down to his hands, where Selene’s hands were resting. He didn’t think he could be brave enough even for making that little step, but there they were: her hands on his. He noticed then a strange marking in one of her wrists, so he turned around her arm before she could react. Her right arm had a blood-printed pattern on her skin: a wolf’s head, drooling blood over a full moon.</p><p>“It’s… a curse.” Loki mumbled puzzled before looking into her eyes while she struggled to get back her arm. “You’re the wolf… You’re Night!”</p><p>Selene’s brown eyes turned yellow and fierce for a second, but just as they had changed to yellow, they changed back to brown… and she looked terrified. During his confusion, Loki let her arm go, and she ran into the barn covering her wrist. Loki ran into the barn as well, calling her name. He found her trying to open the barn’s main door, her eyes filled with tears. Loki stopped her by taking her hand again.</p><p>“Selene…”</p><p>“Go! Go and tell the hunters I’m here! What are you waiting for?!” She shouted.</p><p>“Why would I do that?”</p><p>“I’m a monster!”</p><p>“No, you’re not.” He made her stay in front of him, where he could dry her tears away. “I know you’re not a monster”.</p><p>“My first instinct when you’ve find out was to kill you…! How can you think I’m not a monster?!” she cried looking away, tears running down her cheeks.</p><p>“I know you’ve suffered for this curse.” He replied calmly, caressing her cheek, drying her tears. “I’ve been not entirely truthful with you either.”</p><p>She looked into his eyes.</p><p>“Do you remember when my brother told you we were gods?” Well, he wasn’t just joking around. We are. We don’t have our powers right now, but I still have my knowledge. And that could be more than enough right now. I’ve seen other curses before, and I’ve helped erase some of them. All curses have a cure, I just need to find out which once can cure yours.</p><p>“A God…Yeah, sure. Why not…!” she scoffed.</p><p>“You’re a giant wolf, and yet you don’t believe gods can be real?” Loki smirked, cocking an eyebrow.</p><p>“If there is a god who knows about my curse and does nothing to help me, that god is a goddamn asshole” she mumbled angrily.</p><p>“Well: now there is a god who knows about your curse, and this god will do everything he can to help you” he said, looking into her teary red eyes “And that’s a promise, Selene: I’m going to help you”.</p><p>Loki hugged her, and she accepted his hug, but not quite his words. She was sure there was no way of curing her; although she had hope. She hoped Loki could actually help her with her problem. She didn’t believe him with that God thing though. Selene was able to literally smell when someone was lying to her, and even though he didn’t seem like he was lying, it was extremely hard to believe in such thing. But he did seem absolutely committed with helping her.</p><p>She was completely aware of his feelings towards her: his pulse would rise every time their eyes met while working; from a distance of ten feet, she could clearly hear his heart pumping blood crazily fast with every smile she gave him. But she was completely puzzled to find out those feelings did not disappear after he found out about her curse. Maybe it was true: maybe he didn’t see her as a monster after all…</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Two hearts, one mark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>No one on earth could possibly accept Selene and her curse. She was meant to remain alone for the rest of her days. Or that's what Selene always thought until Loki showed up.<br/>He was not just willing to help her get rid of it, but also to accept her as she was; even if that meant living with a cursed being. <br/>Her lonely days have finally come to an end with the temporally powerless young god by her side.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A short chapter made of pure fluff!<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Selene finally accepted Loki’s words, hoping he would keep his promise of helping her with her curse.</p><p>They keep doing their chores like nothing happened, although she felt anxious all the day. Selene was not used to someone just accepting what she was. Loki noticed she had mixed feelings about everything that just happened between them that morning, but decided not to mention it at all. When they finished all that day’s work, both went home and once they were there, Loki looked inside his bag for something to help her. He had brought with him a lot of uncommon ingredients for potions that might cure every non-lethal illness and injuries, but none of those would be of any help with Selene’s curse. Although, Loki could not possibly see her issue as a curse: she was able to transform into a giant wolf, which meant she could easily survive almost every deadly threat she might encounter; also, she was completely aware of everything while in her wolf form, what made her an incredible intelligent beast. Why would she think of herself a monster when it was clearly a gift? That Loki failed to understand.</p><p>He took his belongings into Selene’s house and left them on a corner. Loki asked her to take a seat on the table while he took from his bag a quill, an inkwell and a wad of blank papers. He sat down by her side and asked Selene to uncover her marked arm.</p><p>“I had never seen this kind of curse before” Loki said out loud, talking to himself while focusing on the strange marking on Selene’s wrist before starting to copy it in one of his blank papers. “I thought I had studied all the existing kinds of curses, but it’s obvious I was wrong…”</p><p>“Then it’s impossible you could help me get rid of it…” Selene sighed.</p><p>“It’s not impossible. There’s always a way. I just need to find said way.”</p><p>“If you say so…”</p><p>“But first, I need to know the origin of this” Loki pointed at the mark “Do you mind telling me?”</p><p>“I was born with it. Just like my parents and grandparents.”</p><p>“Did they all had this mark?”</p><p>“Well, my father wasn’t born with it. It appeared on his skin once he married my mom.”</p><p>“Interesting…”</p><p>“That’s the reason I’m living alone in the middle of nowhere: this mark will die with me.”</p><p>Loki looked up from her marking to her eyes. That confession made him feeling sorrowful and helpless for her, but he completely understood her feelings: she would rather die alone than curse someone else, especially someone she loved. What he could not understand is how she managed to bear that burden all by herself, without having someone who to talk to about it. Until that moment, Selene had no one to trust.</p><p>“Selene, I promise I’ll put my heart and soul in helping you. I won’t let this mark condemn you to a life of endless solitude.”</p><p>“I… I appreciate your concern, Loki. I really do. But I don’t think you can help me…” her helpless voice was almost a whisper.</p><p>“I will at least try. And if I don’t succeed…” he started saying, but he never pronounced the rest of this phrase out loud: «If I don’t succeed… I wouldn’t mind sharing your mark».</p><p>He kept coping her mark in blank papers for hours. Every time he would mess up a single line, he would start from scratch. Loki needed his copy to be perfect, otherwise he could blunder it while trying to find a cure, and therefore make it even worse. He knew a single line, a single dot, could mean the difference between curses, so he worked as hard as he could to make his copy of it flawless.</p><p>When the sun started to hide behind the horizon, she stood up with the excuse of making dinner. Loki gathered his tools, put them into his bag, and went to the kitchen to help her make some dinner. Most of the time they remained silent, but Loki could hear the gears of her mind rattling like crazy.</p><p>“Are you…” she started, shyly, while she was spicing some meat “Are you really fine helping me with my curse?”</p><p>“Of course. Besides, I don’t think it’s actually a curse.” He replied, cutting some vegetables. “You’re able to transform into a majestic animal who has no predators. When you’re Night, you’re this land’s only and true sovereign.”</p><p>“But I <em>do</em> have predators…” she replied, gloomily “And if it weren’t for them, my parents could still be alive.”</p><p>She put the meat into a pot and opened the door of her stone oven to put the pot in it.</p><p>“Mm… Selene? I’m not done cutting the vegetables” Loki pointed with his knife the zucchini he was cutting into cubes.</p><p>She sighed in frustration and proceed to close the oven’s door again and leave the pot by Loki’s side.</p><p>“Listen Selene” Loki started, his hand on her shoulder and his green eyes lovingly looking into her brown orbs “It’s been an exhausting day for you. I’ll take care of everything in here, you go get some rest.”</p><p>She sighed with a nod before walking to her bed. She let her body fall into it while Loki gazed at her in silence from the kitchen with a soft smile. Once he was done cutting the zucchini, he added it into the pot before putting it all inside the oven. While their dinner was getting cooked, he decided to take a seat on Selene’s bed, by her side. She was facing the wall, but when he sat on the corner of her bed, she turned to face him.</p><p>“Do you actually sleep?” Loki asked, caressing the bed sheets but daydreaming with caressing her.</p><p>“I do. Only during the new moon, though. That one is the only night I can choose whether I want to transform or not. Every other night, I have no choice.”</p><p>“You can choose when to transform? At will? Even during the day?”</p><p>“Yes, I do. Whenever I need it” she nodded.</p><p>“It’s almost a defense mechanism. Curses don’t work like that…”</p><p>“Mine does.”</p><p>“Truly interesting…” Loki muttered.</p><p>While having dinner, both felt the atmosphere was a little tenser than it had been any other night. It was obvious she wasn’t completely fine knowing Loki knew her secret. She feared betrayal more than anything. And yet, she had the feeling he would never betray her. Or maybe it was just a self-indulgent lie she was willing to believe.</p><p>After dinner, he offered to keep coping her mark, but she shook her head: it was already too late. She didn’t want her house to get crushed by her enormous size. Loki bid goodnight to her and headed to the barn while she waited for the night to fall into her, as she did every night.</p><p> </p><p>Weeks passed by and, even though she still doubted Loki could actually cure her, she let him keep coping her marking. He would insist over and over on his copy to be perfect so he could look it up on Asgard’s library –Selene didn’t know where Asgard was, nor was she interested in asking, nor knew her when he was supposed to go there to find a cure. The truth was, most of the time he was coping her mark, he would stop coping and just admire it. Admire her. Caress carefully her skin. And she would let him do so.</p><p>“It’s pretty late already, Loki” she told him one night she had allowed him stay after dinner “You should had left hours ago.”</p><p>“I’m almost done. This time, for good. Just a couple lines more” he responded, looking alternatively at her marking and his paper.</p><p>“I don’t have that much time, Loki.”</p><p>“Okay. Enough for today, then.” He nodded, looking at her wrist. “I’ll finish it tomorrow.”</p><p>He looked up to her eyes, but what he found were two deep amber eyes looking back at him. He's not to let his guard down, but that look actually had surprised him. It had been such a shock for him, he abruptly stood while still facing her.</p><p>“What’s the matter?” she asked, preoccupied.</p><p>“It’s… nothing” he calmed down, looking into her eyes. “It’s just… your eyes are the first thing to change when you’re about to transform…”</p><p>“Oh…” she looked away.</p><p>“No, please. Don’t look away” he asked, cupping her face between his hands. She looked at him again, her amber eyes shining under the candlelight. “No matter what color they are, your eyes are always beautiful. Just like you.”</p><p>Loki couldn’t withstand his own feelings anymore, he had silently loved her for too long already. It was unbearable to remain silent about it anymore: he kissed her. It lasted no more than a few seconds, but that kiss meant a world to Loki. She was everything he could have wished for. All the love he felt for her made him whole. It was sweet and warm. When their lips parted, Loki immediately understood he couldn’t live a single day of his life without her.</p><p>“I-I think I’ve taken enough of your time for tonight” Loki mumbled when their lips parted. “I should head back to the barn.”</p><p>She nodded quietly, bewildered for the unexpected kiss.</p><p>Selene walked him to the door, where he bid goodnight at her with a little kiss on her cheek. Loki let go a sigh full of love before walking outside to the barn. Once he was inside it, he leaned on its door and sighed once more. He couldn’t possibly believe what he just did. He had kiss her! He actually did it! Loki felt happy and proud of himself.</p><p>He heard a couple of heavy footsteps outside the barn and knew it was, so he opened the door, and there she was: Night. Or Selene. An amazingly big and majestic black wolf standing before him.</p><p>“Are you going hunting?” Loki asked, walking outside.</p><p>She nodded.</p><p>“Please, be careful.” He put his hand on her snout, carefully caressing it. “I don’t want to lose you.”</p><p>She got her head closer until it was resting against Loki’s torso. It was her way to tell him she had accepted his feelings. He hugged her, surrounding her snout with his arms and placing a little kiss on her forehead.</p><p>Loki heard her stomach grumble, so he let her go of his hug. It was obvious she couldn’t nourish that body just with the food she cooked during the day, so she had to go hunting every night. Loki wished to go with her, but while he was still powerless and mortal, it was impossible for him to remain awake during the night. Once she had melt with the darkness of the night, he went inside the barn, get into his bed, and fell asleep while thinking how glad he was he decided to stay there with her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Hunter and prey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After four months, Loki and Selene were sure they were meant to be together. What they had was idyllic, and they could not be happier. But nothing can ever be that perfect, right?</p><p>Those hunters are still trying to hunt her down for good, and their traps are no longer aimed at little prizes.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings: Angst. Blood and serious wounds mentioned but hardly described.<br/>Also, fluff! (Enjoy!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Four month later Selene and Loki were still living together in their little farm. Loki never missed a chance for showing Selene his love for her and, with the passing time, Selene realized she would trust Loki with her life. They had each other, and it was wonderful for both. Loki couldn’t be happier: it was just the two of them, taking care of the farm and loving each other with their whole hearts. There were no worries, just cuddles, hugs, and kisses between blushes and shy smiles.</p><p>After all that time, Loki stopped worrying about going back to Asgard. All he ever wanted was there: her smiles, her caresses, her hugs, her soft skin under his fingers, her lips pressed against his own... She was everything he needed.</p><p>Loki still worked trying to find a cure to her curse, but this task seemed to get veiled with the passing weeks until it felt like it wasn’t a relevant issue anymore. Loki would always love Selene, no matter what she looked like. Sometimes, even Selene would forget about the pain her curse had brought into her life until then, just because Loki was there making sure her curse was not such a heavy burden. It was a hundred times easier for her accepting herself since Loki found out about her secret. Now she had someone who to talk about it, which was a great relief. Whenever she was sure she was no more than a simple beast, Loki would make sure to change her mind about herself, making her understand how beautiful she looked while running free into the woods or how he believed she was the most magical creature he had ever seen all over the Nine Realms.</p><p>Only when she insisted she wanted to get rid of that curse, Loki would make some ointment with all the stuff he brought with him from Asgard, but none of those remedies were successful at all.</p><p>“It would all be much easier if I had my powers” Loki complained. “Even if I make perfect ointments and potions, without my magic those end up being extremely rudimentary. It’s impossible to cure your curse without magic…”</p><p>“What about that book you brought with you?” she asked, pointing at his bag. “There are instructions for making really odd potions and stuff. Maybe there’s something in there?”</p><p>“Have you been searching my belongings?” Loki raised an eyebrow, looking at her. He stood up and went to look inside his bag for that book she had mentioned.</p><p>“You leave an odd-smelling bag in my house and you think I’m not going to stick my nose into it? Of course I did.” She answered, crossing her arms but blushing at the same time. Loki chuckled.</p><p>“Does it smells odd, though?” he asked, smelling his book.</p><p>“Yes, it does. I had never smelled something like that before. Besides you, I mean. You smelled like that the first night we met in the woods.”</p><p>“It may be residues of the magic that floats in Asgard’s air” Loki guessed while taking a seat.</p><p>He decided to look into that book for a way to recover his powers –maybe she was right and there was a way to get them back and help her get rid of her curse. It was night already, so Selene left while Loki stayed inside reading by candlelight. He kept reading during hours, but all he achieved was to fall asleep with his book under his head.</p><p>He woke up with the sunrise, when a sunbeam dazzled him. He rose his head up from his now wrinkled book and looked around, looking for Selene. She should be home by then, but she didn’t seem to be around. Loki stoop up, stretched his back a little, and went outside, where he found Selene’s clothes were still hanging on the porch’s railing. Loki rubbed his eyes -he was still a bit sleepy- and looked around. He spotted a strange form by the river which he had never seen before. He squinted his eyes, trying to focus on that spot, just to realize it was a naked unconscious body laying upside down, half of it still inside the river’s waters. Loki froze in realization. It was Selene.</p><p>Loki jumped off the porch and ran as fast as he could until he arrived where she was laying. Her body was covered by blood and serious wounds, she had a broken arrow piercing her side. Loki’s felt he couldn’t breathe, his knees gave in and he fell on them by her body. He only realized he was shaking when he tried to reach her with his hands.</p><p>“Selene” he stuttered, his eyes filled with tears.</p><p>Carefully, Loki took her body into his arms and turned her around. She let go a painful groan while slightly opening her eyes.</p><p>“Still alive. Don’t cry.” She muttered with a faint voice.</p><p>She raised a hand and landed it on Loki’s cheek, drying away a tear that was starting to run down his face. He smiled at the feeling of her kind touch. With great care, he took her into his arms and carried her into their home. He placed Selene on their bed and covered her wounded naked body with a blanket.</p><p>“What happened to you?” he asked, drying his own remaining tears while preparing an ointment to treat her wounds. “How did you end up like that? Who did you this?”</p><p>“An ambush” she explained, trying to sit up but failing miserably. She groaned painfully. “They used weapon and traps I’d never seen. They got ahead of me and caught me. Luckily enough, they tried to tie me with ropes, so I bit my way out of their trap. I ran the river down, inside its waters, so they couldn't be able to follow my tracks nor blood stains. Once I got here, I blacked out.”</p><p>“You should be more careful. We’re lucky they used ropes instead of chains, but next time you might not make it. Please, tell me you’ll be more careful next time.” Loki asked her, finishing his ointment.</p><p>“I’ll change my hunting patterns” she nodded. “I’ll hunt somewhere else for some time.”</p><p>Loki brought a bucket with water to clean out her wounds before treating them with the ointment he had prepared. It was the first time she was naked in front of him, but all he cared for was helping her heal her injuries. Loki cleaned every wound and every cut with extreme caution, trying not to make them worse, and once he had done that, he left the ointment in between both so he would put it on her back’s injuries and she would do the same on her chest and arms. Loki removed that arrow piercing her side carefully, but no matter how careful Loki was, she roared in pain anyway.</p><p>“Please, don’t take any more risks” he asked, cleaning her side where the arrow was. “I couldn’t bear to lose you.”</p><p>“You would get over it. That’s how life works.” She shrugged before taking a handful of ointment for her chest wounds.</p><p>“No” he shook his head. “If someone takes you away from me, I will burn this world to the ground. I cannot imagine my life without you in it. I love you.”</p><p>It was the first time he would pronounce those words out loud, but he meant them. He put his heart on those words, and even if it seemed a little bit risky, he didn’t fear if she would or would not reciprocate them. Those were his feeling for her, and he was not afraid of telling her. It was the first time Loki was absolutely fine sharing his feelings out loud.</p><p>She seemed a bit tense, though. He was sure she was trying to give him an answer, but she was struggling to find those words she was looking for. Loki let his hand rest on her shoulder, caressing it carefully to let her know it was OK not to know what to say.</p><p>“I-I love you too, Loki” she mumbled shyly.</p><p>Loki’s eyes filled again with tears, just a really different ones. He had never cried of happiness before. He had to restrain himself from hugging Selene to avoid hurting her. Instead, he kept putting ointment on her arrow wound, although she didn’t make it easy for him since the pain made her squirm and roar painfully, her eyes changing furiously to amber every time he would press his fingers into her wound.</p><p>Once they were done putting her ointment, he ordered her to stay in bed and rest while her wounds healed. Working would only make her injuries get worse.</p><p>“But there’s a lot to do…!” she complained while Loki pushed her to stay in bed.</p><p>“I’ll take care of it all. You need to rest.”</p><p>“For how long?”</p><p>“I don’t know. If I had my magic, you’d be already healed. But without it, all we can do is waiting.”</p><p>“You better get that magic of yours back as soon as possible then…” she crossed her arms over her chest, huffy, because she didn’t want just to lay down while he was taking care of her own duties. Loki chuckled at her furrowed face and bent a little for kissing her before heading outside to work.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Long time no see, brother</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Loki finds in the book he brought from Asgard a potion that could help him regain his magic, but he is missing an ingredient he has never seen before. Luckily, Selene has seen this ingredient before and knows where it could be found. In order to get hold of it quickly and get back to the farm in no time, they decide to go out during the night -while she's a wolf- to look for it.<br/>But they have the misfortune to meet a familiar face on their way home: Thor.<br/>Unfortunately for them, this encounter will bring them many headaches.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings: drunk Thor (does that count as a warning?), there is quite a bit of sexual excitement towards the end of the chapter, but it doesn't go anywhere -yet. There is mention of Selene's scars.<br/>Mostly fluff, some angst, and action.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took several days for her injuries to completely heal –especially that arrow wound. During the night she had to stay hidden inside the barn, where the enormous size of her wolf form wouldn’t break anything. During the day, and as she wasn’t able to hunt at nights, she ate every edible thing she put her eyes on –and also tried to eat some things that weren’t exactly edible. She didn’t mind if it was raw meat, whole eggs –including the shell-, or even onions –without peeling them. At nights, she would scratch the barn’s door, whining loudly because she wanted to go hunting. Luckily enough, she didn’t break that door. During those days, Belinda the Cow stayed out of the barn for the night to avoid becoming a snack for her owner.</p><p>Loki kept reading his book, looking for something that could help him unlock his powers. He found a potion meant to recharge magic for beings who had a limited amount of magic energy –which was not usually his case, but he though it could work given the circumstances. He read carefully the necessary ingredients, amazed by the fact he had almost all he needed on his bag. For once, he took pride in his cautious nature. He was missing a single ingredient: a flower. There was a drawing of the flower for making it easier for the reader to find it, but Loki was sure he had had never seen such a flower. It was pale pinkish, big pear-shaped petals covering its stamens, which were painted of deep pink on the sides and bright yellow on the inside. He tried to find in his memory a flower like that, but failed. He could also had walked outside and ask Heimdall to look at him and help him out finding the damned flower, but it didn’t seem his best idea yet. Loki didn’t know why, but he had the feeling Heimdall didn’t like him much.</p><p>“Hey, that’s a magnolia” Selene mentioned, her chest leaning on Loki’s back and pointing at the flower drawing.</p><p>“Do you know this flower?” Loki’s tone sounded more excited than he intended.</p><p>“Yup. Those are pretty uncommon on this area, though…” She shook her head. Loki seemed disappointed with her answer. “But if you really need them, I know where to find some.”</p><p>“That would be wonderful, my love!”</p><p>“We can go find them tonight. It’s too far away even for a horse, but luckily for both of us: the bigger a wolf is, the faster it runs. Or at least, that’s my case.”</p><p>“Tonight? But your wounds…”</p><p>“It doesn’t hurt anymore. Well, maybe a little. But I need to hunt! I’m so hungry I’ve already tried to eat a spoon…” she whined, tossing a chewed wooden spoon onto the table.</p><p>Loki guffawed at the sight of that half-eaten wooden spoon, he couldn’t help it. She looked up to the celling, completely embarrassed. Loki stood up and hugged her, trying to make it up for laughing at her. She kissed him, and they both smiled at each other when their lips parted.</p><p>“But, hey: if you want to try eat other stuff besides that spoon, I might have some ideas!” Loki jested with a suggestive grin.</p><p>“I’m gonna kick your «other stuff» so hard your father will feel the pain” She said with a sly smile. Loki guffawed again.</p><p>“I love you so much” Loki muttered, caressing her cheek before kissing her again.</p><p> </p><p>Once it was midnight, she went outside to change into Night and waited for Loki, who was still inside their house picking up his stuff –his bag, book and daggers. He went outside and she crouched down for him to climb on her back, once he hold on tight to her fur, she ran into the night, heading north.</p><p>In less than an hour, they had arrived to a village –funny, because any inhabited place was technically at least a week away on horse-, and as soon as they arrived to there, they left. Loki was sure there was nothing faster than Selene on her wolf form. They ran into to the mountains near that village, into the dark and dense woods that covered those mountains. She kept running on a slower pace while Loki remained ducking onto her back, trying to avoid every low branch they would find on their way to wherever she was leading them. At some point, she abruptly stopped where she was and started sniffing around. She found a dusty path and followed it, walking at a slow pace, until they found the end of it: a house in ruins. Plats had started growing inside the abandoned building, moss covering its walls. Selene crouched down for him to climb down her back, and once he was on the ground, she started walking slowly towards the old structure, her eyes fixed on it.</p><p>“What’s wrong, love?” Loki asked, looking at her go.</p><p>He walked to where she had stopped, looking at what she had her eyes on. On the ground, right in front of them, an enormous headless animal skeleton was starting to grow mushrooms around it. Loki looked up at the building, inspecting every detail and finding out it had been burned long ago. Suddenly, it all made sense.</p><p>“This… this was your home.” He whispered, his eyes on the structure.</p><p>He looked at Selene, who had tears getting her fur wet under her eyes.</p><p>“Why are we here, Selene?”</p><p>She pointed with her nose at tree near the ruins: it was filled with big pale pink flowers.</p><p>“You brought me here for helping me, even if that meant facing your past… I’m not worthy of your kindness, my dear…”</p><p>She bowed down her head until it was at Loki’s level. He hugged her, kissing her lightly on her nose. Once he let her go, she went to the tree and broke a branch with her teeth to give it to Loki.</p><p>“Thank you, darling” he nodded, accepting it. Then, he heard clearly her stomach growling. “Go hunting, love. I’ll wait you here” She looked at him tilting her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”</p><p>She nodded and left following the dusty path to the woods. While she was gone, Loki put all the magnolias of that branch into his bag. He didn’t need all of them, but he took them anyway. Just in case his potion didn't work on the first try.</p><p>Once he had done that, he looked at the house in ruins. He might have enough time to take a look inside of it.</p><p>He stepped carefully on the building’s burned rotten wooden floor. The inside of the structure smelled of dampness and wet soil –he could swear he smelled traces of smoke as well. He walked inside, avoiding the remains of burned furniture, and found another headless skeleton curled on a corner, and by its side there was another skeleton –a much smaller one, with its head still attached to its body. «A mother protecting her child», he guessed. Loki looked around, and his eyes stopped on a stone statue that seemed to shine under the moonbeams. It was black with soot, and the moss growing on it didn’t help Loki figuring out what it was supposed to be. Although it seemed a wolf. There was something written in runes on its base, but the darkness and the moss made it impossible for him to read them.</p><p>A deep howl swiftly approaching made him aware that something was off. He went outside and saw Selene running towards him as fast as she could. Barks of hunting dogs and shouts of the hunters that were with them ended the night’s silence for good. Selene bowed down and Loki climbed immediately on her back.</p><p>“What did I told you about not taking risks?” Loki scolded her.</p><p>She let go a little grumble, rolling her eyes, before starting running downhill into the woods. Loki had to remain ducked on her back all the way down the mountain, and even if he remained all the time like that to avoid all the low branches, his shirt ended up in shreds. The fact that he didn’t end up on the ground while she zigzagged down the woods was to be considered a true miracle. Once they were out of the woods she jumped a great distance into the village, landing on a wheat field and accidentally destroying most of the harvest. She drifted with her rear paws, trying to get out of the field as fast as she could, and headed to her usual hunting lands.</p><p>“Where are you going? Haven’t you hunt enough?” Loki asked.</p><p>She let go a pitiful growl.</p><p>“Okay, fine. You can leave me by the inn while you hunt. I better start studying that potion before making it.”</p><p>She headed to the grove where the inn was and let Loki in front of it, where the darkness of the night still veiled her.</p><p>“Just don’t forget about me, okay?” he joked. “And please, be careful. Stay out of trouble.”</p><p>Selene bowed her head for him to hug her. She left, getting out of sight into the grove.</p><p>Loki walked to the inn, but stopped by the pole where the horses were tied. He looked into the horses’ saddlebags until he found a new shirt to wear since his was completely shredded. Once he had changed his shirt, he went into the inn where he found out there was a group of hunters he already knew, drinking and talking loudly. But most importantly: his brother was also there.</p><p>“Loki!” Thor shouted, sitting on the table.</p><p>“Long time no see, brother” Loki greeted his brother quietly.</p><p>“What are you doing here? Did that bad-tempered lady kick you out?” Thor asked, standing up and going with his brother, a half-drunk jar of beer on his hand. Thor welcomed his brother clapping his shoulder.</p><p>“No! Of course not!”</p><p>“Then you left, right? I got you, brother. She’s insufferable!” Thor smiled widely.</p><p>“You’re completely wrong. I left because I had to look for something…” He didn’t want to give his brother much information. “What are you doing here?”</p><p>“I’m hunting with them!” Thor pointed at the hunters. “We’re making the most of it while we can while that hateful wolf is nowhere to be seen. We managed to trap it, you know? But it broke the ropes and ran away. It’s probably dying somewhere away from here, it was badly wounded.”</p><p>Loki had the mighty need of punching his brother’s face, but he knew better. It was not worth fighting him at that moment, even if his brother help those men to almost murder Selene that night.</p><p>“Come and sit with us!” Thor suggested.</p><p>“No, thank you. I would rather sit alone and read my book” Loki replied, taking a seat far from the hunters and looking inside his bag for his book.</p><p>“Come on! We’re on vacation! Forget about reading and live life a little!”</p><p>“This is no vacation, Thor. It’s supposed to be a punishment! And if we’re stranded on this Realm is because of <em>you</em>!” he sighed out loud, opening his book. “Anyway, never mind.”</p><p>Thor took a seat by Loki.</p><p>“I do look forward to go back to Asgard. I miss it in there, don’t you miss it?” Thor asked.</p><p>“Not really. I’m pretty content in here actually.”</p><p>“What? Seriously? Why?”</p><p>“I feel useful” Loki shrugged.</p><p>“Working for that crazy lady?”</p><p>Loki closed his book angrily. “First of all, don’t call her that. You’re no one to disrespect her in any way. Was it not enough that you almost killed-?” Loki clenched his fists and shut his mouth before keep talking. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I'd better go somewhere else.”</p><p>“Why? What did I say?” Thor shouted while Loki put his book into his bag and left.</p><p>Loki would rather wait for Selene outside than keep listening to his brother saying mean things about her. There was so little light outside Loki couldn’t even read his book’s cover, so he just crossed his arms and leaned onto the inn’s wall, waiting patiently for Selene to come back for him. From inside the inn, the loud laughter and joyful yells of the hunters made the natural silence of the night to be entirely diminished.</p><p>Some time later, Loki noticed a couple of amber eyes looking directly at him from inside the grove. He smiled at that sight, remembering the first time he saw those eyes looking at him in that same place, almost a year ago.</p><p>“How was your hunt, love?” Loki asked quietly, walking towards the grove.</p><p>The black wolf sank her nose on the ground and lifted a dead boar. It was almost as big as the one Loki gave her long ago. She wag her tail, proud of her hunting prize.</p><p>“Wonderful, my dear” he smiled softly at her. “Let’s head back home before someone sees you.”</p><p>The faster you say a phrase like that, the faster it happens. As soon as he finished it, Thor burst through the door, walking outside with a new full jar of beer on his hand.</p><p>“Loki! I know you’re still here!” Thor shouted, completely drunk and swinging his beer around. “I’m sorry I called that witch «crazy»!</p><p>Thor found Loki outside, both of his arms around the wolf’s face. Both Loki and the animal glared back at him, both startled, but not as much as Thor was. Thor could swear he felt that beast’s deep undaunted eyes tearing his soul apart. His jar hit the floor before he could notice, and his drunkenness disappeared at once.</p><p>“I-It’s the beast! The beast is here!” Thor shouted, warning the hunters.</p><p>A lot of noise came from inside the inn, where all the hunters had started moving towards the door.</p><p>“We need to go. Now!” Loki hurried Selene while jumping onto her back with a single swift move.</p><p>They left in a hurry before the hunters could see them run away together. They heard the horses’ hooves knocking unceasingly on the ground not too far away from them, those hunters were chasing them.</p><p>“We cannot go back home, that would draw them directly to us. We need to lose them.” Loki told her.</p><p>She nodded before taking a close turn and heading into the nearest forest, where she knew those horses couldn’t run as fast as her without losing their riders on their way. She looked for a place to hide while they waited for the hunters to go past them. Once she was not able to smell those horses, she headed back outside the forest and ran following the river waters until they were once again on the farm.</p><p>The sun was starting to rise when they arrived home. Loki climbed her down while she was still inside the river.</p><p>“We risked way too much tonight” Loki muttered, getting out of the water. “They almost got us! I just hope Thor was drunk enough not to know what he actually saw.”</p><p>He turned to face her, but what he saw was not a giant wolf but a young naked unashamed woman washing mud and blood stains away of her body. Loki froze at that sight, his jaw dropped for a second. It was the first time seeing her naked without having to focus on healing her injuries urgently. Her incredibly beautiful yet full of scars body made him realize he had a very different urgency, but he made his best to hide it.</p><p>“Y-You should probably avoid hunting on those forests for some time…” he told her, his eyes captivated by her body.</p><p>“Sure. But, Honey? My eyes are up here.” She said, pointing at her eyes while looking at him with a lupine grin.</p><p>“Sorry” he turned away, ashamed of his own behavior. “I’ll go find you clean clothes”</p><p>“Could you also bring a handcart for carrying the boar home, please?” she asked, scrubbing clean her legs.</p><p>He came back with the handcart and her clean clothes hanging on his neck. Loki let her clothes by the river’s sore for her to get dressed when she was done washing herself and then carried the boar with the handcart to the back of their home, where Selene had a table for flaying, empting, and cleaning her prey. Once he had left the boar on the table, he headed inside their home to look for the tools for cleaning it.</p><p>“Loki, love, don’t worry about the boar: I’ll take care of it.” Selene said, already dressed and leaning under the door’s lintel, looking at him and realizing he had already found the tools she needed. “You should get that potion –or whatever it is- started. Let’s hope we didn’t risk our lives for nothing tonight.”</p><p>Loki went were she was standing and hugged her. She smiled softly at him.</p><p>“Thank you for helping me with this.” He caressed her cheek. “I know you’re skeptical, but you still helped me getting those flowers… Even if that meant having to revive your worst memories… I cannot thank you enough, my dear.”</p><p>“You support me, I support you. That’s how love works.”</p><p>“Yes: that’s how love works” his whole body relaxed at her words.</p><p>She was everything Loki ever needed: someone who supported him, who helped him, who loved him unconditionally and showed him the understanding and respect he deserved. The more time he spent by her side, the more he realized all he had been missing in his life for so long; and the more he was with her, the less he wanted to go back to Asgard. Maybe Midgard was much more magicless than any other Realm he knew, but there was something that no other Realm ever had: her. And she was the most magical being on Midgard –and not just because she was able to turn into an impressive majestic perfect beast. Having her by his side, Loki would stay on Midgard for as long as it was necessary. He didn’t mind working on the garden or cleaning the barn as long as she was there.</p><p>Selene pulled Loki’s lapels until their lips found each other, and Loki hugged her tightly while they melted into that kiss. It was a sweet kiss, but just as every kiss she would give him, it was enough to ignite Loki’s passion. He’d always try to hide this, although he couldn’t wait to make love to her. He’d dreamt about caressing every inch of her body, about gazing at her beautiful naked figure without feeling guilty, about making her call his name out of pleasure. But he didn’t want to rush it. If they were to make love, he wanted for her to desire it as much as he did.</p><p>“I don’t deserve you” Loki dreamily whispered once they lips parted.</p><p>“Do you love me?” she asked.</p><p>“Don’t ever doubt it.”</p><p>“Then don’t worry about whether you deserve me or not. And, by the way: we deserve each other.” She said, pulling him again until their lips were together once more. They kissed each other over and over again while their passion increasingly ignited.</p><p>“We’ve got work to do, my love” Loki reminded her in between passionate kisses.</p><p>“It can wait” she purred before kissing him again.</p><p>She pulled him of his lapels, leading him inside their home while they kissed, until her back bumped into the table, where she took a seat. Every kiss was more passionate than the last, and Loki could swear he was about to lose control over himself. Those kisses and the fact that she had trapped his hips between her legs drove Loki undeniably crazy; and his hard length pressing against what he hoped was her leg didn’t help him calm down either.</p><p>“We should really be attending our duties outside” Loki mumbled terribly excited, yet still as responsible as ever. She sighed.</p><p>“You’re right” Selene nodded “I should empty that boar before the flies do it for us…” She let go Loki’s hips, looking away while he tried to hide that hard problem in his pants. “I’m sorry, I got carried away…”</p><p>“Don’t ever apologize, Selene” Loki lovingly cupped her face with his hands. “I yearn for making love to you. I dream of it every night, I really do. But we’ll have plenty of time once we’re done with our chores.”</p><p>“Are you always <em>this</em> responsible?” she asked, half joking half reproaching.</p><p>“Unfortunately. Yes.” He smiled, annoyed by his own sense of responsibility.</p><p>“Very well.” Selene sighed again, getting on her feet and giving Loki a little kiss on his cheek. “Let’s get all that work done, shall we?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Repressed memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As Thor was sure his brother had been devoured by the wolf, he asked the King's men to help him hunt the wolf and recover Loki's remains.<br/>Of course, Loki was very much alive and now he had to find a way of telling Thor before someone actually hunted Selene to death.<br/>The presence of those King's men on her grounds make her revive the reasons why she left her hometown in the first place. Needless to say those memories aren't exactly happy ones.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A short chapter of fluff and angst!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>While Selene cleaned her prey, Loki stayed inside studying every step necessary for brewing his magic-recovery potion, hoping it could help him get his magic back. One of those steps required for the ingredients to be put into brine and let them outside during the new moon. Even if all he could do at that moment was waiting for the new moon to come, he kept reading the instructions just in case there was something he could do beforehand, but all that was left to do was memorizing that potion and its ingredients just in case he could need it in the future.</p><p>He went outside to get some fresh air before helping Selene with the farm chores. He decided to pay her a visit, just in case she needed some help. Loki found her behind their house, cleaning the boar on a table that was all full of blood at the moment. But it was not the only thing covered in blood: Selene clothes were too.</p><p>“Hey, darling. When will the next new moon be?” Loki asked.</p><p>“In two days. Why?” she replied, her eyes on her work.</p><p>“I need to put the ingredients in brine and let them outside during a new moon for them to work on my potion” he shrugged.</p><p>“You «gods» really do weird stuff” she let out, gesturing air quotes at the word «god».</p><p>“Hey! What are those air quotes for? You still don’t believe I’m a god?” Loki smirked, pulling her by his side.</p><p>“And I won’t believe it until I can see it with my own two eyes” she proclaimed, bopping his nose with her index finger and leaving there a little blood stain.</p><p>“If my potion works, you will see. Literally.” He cleaned his nose with his sleeve.</p><p>Suddenly, she put her nose up and sniffed the air, looking around.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” asked Loki.</p><p>“I smell horses.”</p><p>“It may be my shirt” he pointed at himself. “I took it from one of those hunters’ saddlebags.”</p><p>“No. That shirt smells like musk. And like some kind of perfume made out of aromatic weeds and lemon peel; its last owner visited a brothel wearing it.”</p><p>“That’s… specific.”</p><p>“It really smells like horses. And they’re coming this way.”</p><p>“So? What should we do?”</p><p>“Nothing. Act normal. We don’t know them, but we’ll be welcoming.”</p><p>“You seem quite used to this procedure.”</p><p>“I am,” she sighed.</p><p>Both kept doing their chores while waiting for those horses to get to the farm. Selene started cutting the boar into little pieces of meat so she could put them to marinate. In the meantime, Loki swept the whole barn and fed the animals.</p><p>Four horses arrived to the farm by afternoon. Loki was milking Belinda when the horses stopped outside the pen and four men waved at him. The four of them wore leather armors with a blue blazon portraying a horse jumping over what seem to be a sea.</p><p>“Do you live alone in here, sir?” one of the men asked Loki.</p><p>“I live with my wife in here. It’s just the two of us. Why?” Loki stood up, wiping his hands on his pants.</p><p>Maybe they were not actually married, but she had asked him to say they were. Selene explained she didn’t want people to know they were living in sin –what that meant Loki didn’t really know, but he would not waste an opportunity for telling everyone Selene was his.</p><p>“We’ve been told there’s a dangerous animal lurking around these lands,” one of them explained.</p><p>“That’s news to me. What animal are we talking about?” Loki faked his interest.</p><p>“Those who have seen it describe it as a black wolf.”</p><p>“Just a wolf? Lone wolves are not a problem: they isolate themselves from their packs to die,” Loki shrugged.</p><p>“This is no common wolf,” another man spoke. “They say it’s as big as a house.”</p><p>“Well, if I had seen such a big wolf I’m sure I’d remember it,” Loki smiled.</p><p>“Might your wife had seen it?”</p><p>“I doubt so,” Loki shook his head. “Has the animal caused much trouble?”</p><p>“It has been stealing some prey from the local hunters.”</p><p>“And some people claim they saw it devour a man alive by Clearwater’s Inn.”</p><p>“That wolf devoured<em> someone</em>?” Loki looked at them puzzled.</p><p>“A man intercepted us on our way to Stalburg. He told us his brother was devoured by that beast before his eyes, and asked us to help him find his brother’s remains and to hunt that animal down. But we haven’t find anything yet.”</p><p>“Well, we’ve found a couple of big paw prints outside the Inn, but that’s about it.”</p><p>“As you will understand, our duty is to ensure the safety of our King’s subjects,” spoke the man who seemed to be in charge, “and therefore, taking that beast down is our priority. If you or your wife happen to see it...”</p><p>“If we see that wolf, we will make sure to let you know,” Loki nodded, expecting for them to leave their farm as soon as possible.</p><p>The men bid farewell to Loki and left heading south. Loki went to tell Selene what those men were looking for –although she was already aware of all due her good hearing. Both knew those men would come back again and again until they found either the wolf or the nonexistent corpse, so they could not let their guards down. Selene knew she could not hunt freely while the King’s men were after her. If her farm was now part of their patrol territory, they would find out about her soon or later. They were in trouble, but there was nothing they could do at the moment to solve it, so they kept doing their chores while working on a way to solve that new issue.</p><p>During the rest of the day, Loki could not help but feeling guilty. If he hadn't wanted to stop at the inn, Thor wouldn't have thought that the wolf had killed him and now those men wouldn't be looking for her. He wished he could go back in time and rectify that, but even with his powers he was unable to accomplish such a feat –so it was completely impossible without them.</p><p>He finished milking the cow and started cleaning the henhouse before collecting the eggs. Once he had that done, he helped Selene to start preparing some lunch. They roasted some pieces of the boar she had hunt, made an omelet with green onions and eat some cheese she had made out of her cow’s milk. They had lunch peacefully while discussed how to solve their problem with those King’s men.</p><p>“You can go out for a couple hours and come back before sunrise,” Loki suggested, “you can hide inside the barn while you wait to change back.”</p><p>“No, if I see Belinda out there and I’m still hungry I’ll probably eat her… It’s happened before…”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“I told you I used to have pigs, didn’t I?”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“And four more cows…”</p><p>“Hmmm…”</p><p>“Half of the chickens…”</p><p>“Please don’t add the former farm’s owner to the list,” Loki jested.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I didn’t eat him. But he did ask me to end his suffering so… Well, you know the rest…”</p><p>“Yeah… Well, what do we do then? You cannot stay here without eating all night, you could end up nibbling to death every single spoon we own!” Loki laughed.</p><p>“Funny, dear. You’re so funny. You could go find your brother, though. Maybe if he realizes you’re alive, you can convince him to go find those guards and tell them he was wrong about the wolf.”</p><p>“He still wants to find you and hunt you down. And now the guards know you –well, Night- exists. They won’t stop looking for you even if Thor tells them it was a misunderstanding.”</p><p>“You could go with him to the north sentry post. Convince him it was all a mistake, that he never actually saw you that night. He was completely drunk. That wolf he saw was probably just a wild old dog.”</p><p>“That sounds like an overcooked lie… It might even work. But how could I find Thor?”</p><p>“I can leave some prints or tracks leading him to here,” she shrugged.</p><p>“No. No way. Not at all,” he replied sharply. “It’s way too risky!”</p><p>“We’re at risk anyway. They know I exist –they know I’m <em>still</em> alive. It's only a matter of time before the king expands his hunting ground here and they start bringing their metal traps with them.”</p><p>“This is not the first time you’re facing this threat, is it?”</p><p>“I left Stalburg’s forest for a reason…”</p><p>“Stalburg is that town we crossed last night, isn’t it?”</p><p>She nodded. “My father used to be a hunter there. My mother lived with my grandparents at the flour mill.”</p><p>“A hunter and a wolf. Sounds sweet,” Loki smiled softly.</p><p>“They never gave me much details about how they met, but I too used to think it was sweet. The thing is, they moved into the forest once they got married so they could take care of me.”</p><p>“The town wasn’t a safe place for you?”</p><p>“More like I was not safe for the town actually,” she giggled at her own memories. “You see, marked babies change forms whenever they feel like it. They cry? Wolf! They get angry? Wolf! They’re hungry? Wolf! A dog crossed their path? Wolf!”</p><p>“Oh my…” Loki chuckled.</p><p>“But it seems I was quite a… <em>difficult</em> puppy. I spent more time as a wolf than as a human. Those woods were my territory and I’d defend it ferociously. There was an adult bear that used to run away from me every time we saw each other.”</p><p>Loki smiled tenderly as he imagined that scene: a wolf cub terrorizing all the animals in the forest. It must have been quite a challenge for her parents to keep her in line.</p><p>“In fact,” she continued “the King’s men found us because of me… I stepped out of the borders my parents had set for me, and entered his hunting grounds. They spotted me and chased me almost all the way home. I managed to elude them, and when they asked my parents, they pretended they had never seen a wolf on those woods before. But the king thought it was a good idea to add those mountains to his private hunting ground, and my parents forbid me to use my animal form during the day. But, as the stupid teenager I was, I didn't listen to them...”</p><p>For the first time in forever, Loki found himself wordless. He took her hand and caressed it to make her know he was there for her.</p><p>“I’m sorry I’m wasting our time,” she apologized out of the blue.</p><p>“No time spent by your side is a waste of time, my love. You don’t need to apologize. Not to me,” he told her, tenderly caressing her cheek. “I’m sure this is the first time you tell this to anyone, and I’m honored it’s me. I will always listen to you, my Selene. And you’ll always have my support. Always.”</p><p>“You’re way too good for me. I don’t deserve you,” she smiled softly, her eyes filled with sadness of those distant memories she had awaken.</p><p>“As you said earlier: we deserve each other, my love.”</p><p>Loki leaned towards her to give her a sweet little kiss. The truth was that he had that same feeling almost every day, for he didn't think he deserved the love Selene gave him; but now it comforted –and also saddened– him a little knowing that she felt the same way. Neither of them had had anyone in a long time to give them so much love. The support given to Loki at home ended as soon as his brother began to demonstrate his combat prowess while he was falling behind in that; and in Selene's case, she had been left with no one after the nobleman of the region burned down her home and took her parents' heads as hunting trophies. Both had felt abandoned to their fate until they found each other, and they had no intention of ever being alone again. Now they felt that, as long as their love for each other was unconditional, they deserved that chance to be happy together.</p><p>They spent their day taking care of their farm, just as they did every day. They forgot about all the arousal they had felt in the morning, so they didn’t bring up the topic. Also, Loki was feeling extremely exhausted since he hadn’t slept for more than a whole day. He was looking forward to regaining his powers and his god status so he wouldn't need to sleep and so he could spend sleepless nights with Selene, if only to make sure she was safe during her nightly outings.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Before the New Moon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Loki wakes up in the morning much later than he usually does, and that makes him realize Selene is home already and wants something more than just have breakfast with him. He's not complaining though! </p>
<p>Although, that's not the only surprise she had for Loki: Selene has a scheme to mislead the hunters into turning against one of them and forget about hunting her for a while. And she had already set it in motion before even telling him.</p>
<p>All Loki hopes for is his potion to work and finally recover his powers so he can help and protect Selene.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings: smut and lots of fluff!<br/>(Should I also say it's unprotected sex? I mean, they're like in the 17th century... kinda obvious tho.)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Loki slept so heavily not even the sunrise had woke him up. It had to be the smell of cooked wild boar meat from the breakfast that Selene, who had returned from her hunt a couple of hours ago, was preparing for them that brought him out of his lethargy. He opened his eyes when Selene decided to fan the plate full of roasted meat in his direction, as he had done to Thor more than half a year ago. Loki rested both hands on his pillow, peeling himself off of it, and squinted in the direction of the meaty smell. All his hair was on the side of his head and, when he lifted his head up, it looked like he had his hair planted upwards. Selene couldn't help but laugh at that sight.</p>
<p>“What a crest! Are you planning to compete with the rooster?" she smiled, sitting by the table.</p>
<p>“Uh?” he was still a bit dazed.</p>
<p>“Come have breakfast with me, love.”</p>
<p>He let himself fall face first against the pillow once more before turning over to lie on his back and rub his eyes. Selene decided to sit in the bed, where Loki was trying to clear his head before getting up. She sat down next to him, trying not to disturb him too much.</p>
<p>“Did you sleep well?” she asked with a little smile.</p>
<p>“Like a dormouse during winter," he stretched his arms. “But I'm possitive I'd sleep better with you beside me.”</p>
<p>“Well, we could try tomorrow night, during the new moon," she shrugged blushing.</p>
<p>“That would be wonderful. To be able to sleep with someone next to me, wake up and have them still there... I've been wanting something like that for years.”</p>
<p>“Just sleeping?” she raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“If I can sleep by your side, that’s all I need, my love,” Loki smiled softly. “Anything else is optional. I want your love, your cuddles and your caresses. I don't need anything else; just that. I have no need for more.”</p>
<p>“Then… Does that means you don’t want to… you know…?” She looked away in embarrassment after realizing what she had just asked. Loki grinned a little at her try to ask him about getting more physical.</p>
<p>“If it is with you, my Selene, I want to do everything you want me to. Although, I must admit I’m kind of afraid.”</p>
<p>“Afraid?”</p>
<p>“My last relationship was purely physical… There was no love. At all. Just…that,” a deep sigh escaped Loki’s soul. “I’m afraid our relationship may follow the same path…”</p>
<p>She leaned in to kiss him softly, trying to calm those fears. Loki smiled tenderly and caressed her cheek, impossible for him to believe all he was living was not merely a dream. She did feel like a dream. Selene tried to stand up and go for breakfast, but he hugged her before she could leave, so she hugged him back, laying on the bed alongside Loki.</p>
<p>“I needed this. All my life, I needed <em>you,</em>” Loki whispered lovingly, hugging her tight.</p>
<p>She smiled softly before taking her shoes off, opening the blanket so she could slip inside the bed with him to keep hugging and kissing him, but instead of that, Loki moved away. His face turning slightly red, which was pretty uncommon on him.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Well… I don’t mean to alarm you, but my pants are over there,” Loki stated, pointing at a chair near the hearth, where his pants where hanging. “Usually I put them on before you come back home, but today I overslept…”</p>
<p>“Oh…”</p>
<p>“Yes…”</p>
<p>“Well, I don’t mean to alarm you either, but I’m wearing no underwear right now.”</p>
<p>“Not funny.”</p>
<p>“I’m not joking.”</p>
<p>“<em>Oh</em>…”</p>
<p>“Yeah…”</p>
<p>Loki had to reach a hand under the sheets to keep from noticing what was beginning to cause a fold of fabric to slowly rise, but it was all too obvious. He was blushing, and all that made him feel like a teenager, almost like he felt the first time he had that same reaction. She was also blushing, but was way too stubborn just to leave things like they were. She leaned in and kissed Loki, hoping that kiss would help them calm their nerves a little.</p>
<p>“I love you, Loki,” she whispered lovingly.</p>
<p>“I love you too, my Selene,” replied Loki, caressing her cheek and looking longingly into her eyes.</p>
<p>She carefully positioned herself over him, preventing their skins from coming into contact only by the fabric of the long cloth skirt she was wearing. Loki swallowed hard at the thought of moving forward; he was looking forward to it, but still felt afraid.</p>
<p>“Are you sure you want to do this?” Loki asked, staring into her eyes.</p>
<p>She nodded, whispering an almost inaudible «yes», and he slowly lifted the cloth that prevented them from feeling each other. They both burned with the anticipation of the moment. Knowing they were going to be together in that way hastened their heartbeats and their breathing.</p>
<p>“Have you ever done this before?” wanted to know Loki.</p>
<p>She shook her head. He reached up until he could caress Selene's cheek, who was flushed and trembling with equal parts excitement and nerves. Loki flashed her a sweet smile, hoping to reassure her a little.</p>
<p>Loki guided Selene’s hips until they were right over his member, both organs rubbing lightly against each other. She looked pretty nervous, and he though he must be almost as nervous as she was, but that was something Loki could not let her notice: he had to remain calm in order to reassure her as well.</p>
<p>“At first, it may hurt a little, so be careful and tell me if I hurt you,” he whispered, slowly pushing into her while she lowered her hips until they met with Loki’s.</p>
<p>Once he was completely inside her, they both let out a sigh of satisfaction and excitement. Then, Loki started moving slowly and rhythmically, hoping his moves wouldn’t hurt Selene, who bit her lips while keeping her eyes closed.</p>
<p>“Does it hurt?” Loki asked.</p>
<p>“A little…”</p>
<p>“Do you want me to stop?”</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>He smiled before continuing to thrust his length in a leisurely and calm way between her hips. He loved her with all his soul, and the more he felt her, the more he wanted her. She was terribly aroused, so much so that she soon began to move on her own as she felt the walls of her insides getting wetter and wetter, making it much easier for both of them to keep their pace. Soon, it was she who was setting the tempo, albeit somewhat unsteadily and even clumsily.</p>
<p>“Am I doing it right?” she asked, shyly.</p>
<p>“Oh my love, everything you do is right,” Loki grinned, completely aroused.</p>
<p>“Flatterer…”</p>
<p>“Maybe,” he admitted. “But I have never enjoyed making love so much. And I'm serious.”</p>
<p>Little by little, he helped her to increase the speed of the movements, teaching her to move with more ease and rhythm to feel him more fully while he constantly penetrated her, slowly but steadily, with delicate and yet plagued with lust movements, bringing them closer and closer to the point of no return. She began to feel a tingling inside her that she had never felt before. She felt a shock in her lower abdomen that ran down her spine, making her shiver all over, and she let out a moan of pure pleasure, followed by several more, longer and more intense ones that were accompanied by a series of terribly pleasurable spasms. Seeing her so aroused, Loki couldn't help but climax as well, hugging her against his chest as they both moaned in pleasure. She moaned even more as she noticed the small but steady surges Loki was releasing inside her.</p>
<p>Selene let herself fall beside Loki as she felt a thick, warm liquid escape from inside her. He sat up a little to kiss her, though he was also struggling to catch his breath. He had never felt so good after lovemaking.</p>
<p>“How was that?” Loki asked sweetly, removing a lock of hair away from her face. “Did you enjoy it?”</p>
<p>“I sure did,” she nodded, trying to catch her breath.</p>
<p>Loki hugged her against his chest, placing little kisses on her forehead and hair. “I love you, Selene. You have no idea of how much I love you.”</p>
<p>“I love you too, Loki,” she snugged into his chest.</p>
<p>“Can we stay like this for a while?”</p>
<p>“The breakfast must be cold by now...”</p>
<p>“Is that a «yes»?”</p>
<p>“Sure,” she nodded, getting more comfortable between his arms.</p>
<p>They felt so peaceful next to each other that at one point they both closed their eyes and fell asleep. They woke up a couple hours later, when the sun began to reach its highest point. Loki smiled at the sight of her still asleep next to him. He had dreamt about a moment like that so many times that now it seemed almost impossible for him to believe it had actually happened. He stroked Selene's cheek and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. She stirred slightly, half-opening her eyes.</p>
<p>“Did we fall asleep?” she asked, sleepily.</p>
<p>“So it seems.”</p>
<p>“Ugh, no..." she purred. "We’ve got lots of work to do…”</p>
<p>“Yesterday I took care of almost every important task, today it will be enough to milk Belinda, collect the eggs, and fertilize the fields” Loki explained.</p>
<p>“Is that so?” she asked, and Loki nodded. “Oh, that’s perfect! I can stay here in bed with you for some more time! Thank you, sweetheart!” she purred, snugging herself into his arms again.</p>
<p>The truth is, he wasn't going to complain. There was work to do, but he also preferred to spend the whole day in bed with her. The two of them cuddling, lying between the blankets, made them feel calm and safe, as if nothing bad could happen while they were there. He would caress her, whisper how much he loved her and tell her how happy he was to have her in his life, and she would occasionally sit up a little to kiss him. There wasn't a happier man in the whole universe than he was at those moments.</p>
<p>They decided to get to work after eating for lunch what should have been the breakfast. While she milked Belinda, he gathered all the eggs from the chickens and put manure on the fields, which were now planted with zucchini and red peppers. He finished before she did, so he stopped by the barn to take another bale of straw out to the pen outside, where there was less than half a bale left.</p>
<p>“While you finish milking, I’ll bathe in the river,” Loki announced. “After all, there’s nothing more to do today.”</p>
<p>Loki took off his clothes, glancing sidelong from time to time towards Selene, who sometimes took her eyes off the cow's udders so she could stare unabashedly at Loki's naked body. He decided that while he was at it he might as well wash the clothes too, so he put them in the river with him and scrubbed them to remove as much dirt as he could. Selene finished milking the animal and took the bucket of milk into the house, where she lit a fire and put a pot of milk on the flame to boil it.</p>
<p>He came through the door, naked, carrying his wet clothes in one hand. He placed a chair in front of the fire and hung the clothes on its back to wait for them to dry.</p>
<p>“You’re not going to spend the rest of the afternoon like that, are you?” she asked, peeking at his nude attractive body.</p>
<p>“What seems to be the problem?” he grinned flirtingly, sitting by the fire. “Do you wish to take a seat?” Loki asked, patting his leg.</p>
<p>“Weren’t you afraid of our relationship becoming just physical?”</p>
<p>“Yes. I still am,” he sighed, standing up and walking to her. “But I have a hunch it won’t be like that.”</p>
<p>He took Selene's face between his two hands and kissed her with affection and calmness. A sweet kiss full of love, like the ones he loved so much. Before he knew it, he had embraced her completely.</p>
<p>“Besides, now that I had you once, I’m afraid I've become addicted to you,” he whispered before lifting her into his arms. “I want to make love to you before the sun sets.”</p>
<p>“Not now, love. I have milk on the fire.”</p>
<p>Loki looked at the pot crackling over the flames, where the milk was beginning to boil. He knew from experience with Selene that leaving milk on the fire unattended led unequivocally to disaster, so he decided to accept that it was best to forget about making love for the moment and focus on finishing that task. Loki put her down and went to the bed to get the sheet and put it on like a robe while she finished boiling the milk. He opened his book while she kept an eye on the fire and reread about the potion he was to start brewing for the next night. Most of the potions he knew required the ingredients to dry or bathe in moonlight or sunlight, but it was rare to find one that required the opposite. He had no idea why this could be, but he wasn’t wasting his time trying to figure it out. By the time he looked up from his reading, Selene had already removed the milk from the fire and had put on a pot of water, several chopped vegetables, and wild boar meat to make a stew.</p>
<p>“I have to tell you something, but please don't get angry," she commented, carefully stirring what was on the fire. Loki looked up to meet her eyes, waiting to hear what she had to say. “Last night I left a couple of tracks on purpose to bring the hunters here," she finally confessed.</p>
<p>“Excuse me?” Loki blinked in disbelief.</p>
<p>“I know you told me not to, but it wasn't too obvious. One of them is a werewolf, although I'm not sure he knows it, and the tracks I've left are just olfactory...”</p>
<p>“Wait, wait, that's a lot to digest," Loki put a hand to his head, combing his bangs back. “You've left them scent trails that will lead them here...," she nodded, "And those have to be tracked by one of them, who is a «werewolf»," she nodded again. “Okay... What the hell is a werewolf?”</p>
<p>“Oh. It’s a person who turns into a half-wolf every full moon,” she explained.</p>
<p>“So it's something like...you?”</p>
<p>“No, not at all. They are not aware of what they do when they transform. They turn into mindless, horrible vicious beasts: wolf head and human body full of really thin hair. Also, they cannot change at will, only during the full moon. Their curse is much worse than mine.”</p>
<p>“And how it helps us they follow your track that way?” Loki wanted to know since he wasn’t completely understanding her point.</p>
<p>“Well, this werewolf man won’t be aware of what it’s leading him to here. If it goes according to the plan, he will come here by instinct, and the rest of the hunters will follow him.”</p>
<p>“And when they’re here, then what?”</p>
<p>“It will take them about a couple of weeks to come: they were on their way to Stalburg and I have left the tracks going all around the forest and bringing them here through the mountains. They will have to go in short strides so as not to kill their horses on the way.”</p>
<p>“You’re not answering my question, Selene.”</p>
<p>“I thought of something, although it is unethical...," Loki waited patiently for her to tell him. "We can wait for the full moon: let the werewolf's companions see him transform and blame everything on him.”</p>
<p>“Do you plan to have him hunted down so that they will forget about you for a while?”</p>
<p>“I know it's not right to do that to anyone... But if he is hunted as a werewolf, the body will not return to its original state and you can use it as evidence in front of the guards to incriminate him...! I'm sorry, I must seem like the worst person in the world for wanting to do that to him...”</p>
<p>Loki was silent for a while, weighing her words. He looked at his book, and then looked back at her, thinking about what other choice they had.</p>
<p>“It sounds like a good plan to me," Loki said at last. “If we can buy some time and stop those guards from looking for you, it's worth a try. Even if it means putting the target on someone else's back.”</p>
<p>“Are you really okay with that?”</p>
<p>“It's your life that's at stake. I will not hesitate to protect you with all I've got, and I don't care if it has to be at the expense of others.”</p>
<p>They spent the rest of the day discussing the details of how to later convince the rest of the hunters that the werewolf was the wolf they were looking for, even if it was completely different from Selene. When the moon reached its highest point, as always, Selene left to hunt and Loki went to bed.</p>
<p>The next day they decided to continue with their usual routine of taking care of the farm, and once all the chores were done, Selene helped Loki prepare the brine to dip the ingredients for his magic recovery potion. She still thought it was kinda silly, but she still went out of her way to help Loki in any way she could, as he did with her.</p>
<p>They put everything he needed in the brine in a wooden bucket and left it outdoors, under the stars. Loki held out hope that he could help Selene with her mark once he regained his powers, but if he was not able to remove it, he was fully prepared to defend her to death with his powers if necessary.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. A forgoten locket</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Finally, after the new moon -and a good night of passion- they begin to brew the potion to restore Loki's powers.<br/>Unfortunately, it seems that it is not enough to mix the ingredients and wait for it to work: it is necessary to have a pinch of magic for the potion to do any good, but as long as Loki continues to have his powers sealed, it will be impossible to recover his magic. If only he had brought with him a small container with a little magic for an emergency... <br/>Oh, wait...!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings: a little smut, some fluff and a mention of needles and blood.<br/>A pretty short chapter. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Loki and Selene spent the new moon together. It was their first night sleeping in the same bed since their relationship started. After making love, they cuddled and ended up falling asleep until the sunrise. Loki woke up first, he wanted to watch her sleeping peacefully in his arms before waking her up. He gave her lots of small caresses and soft kisses until, little by little, Selene opened her eyes. She sank her face into Loki's chest, shielding herself from the sun, so she could sleep a while longer. He didn't mind in the least staying in bed as long as she needed, after all, being able to sleep only one night a month must be very hard - and even harder if your partner decides to take a couple of hours of your sleep time just for foreplay.</p><p>To be honest, Loki had taken that night <em>very</em> calmly. Knowing that he was in no hurry to do chores, nor was she supposed to transform, he had decided to spend lot of time just for contemplating her beautiful naked body. He had laid her gently on the bed and gazed at her for a long time, trying to memorize every little wrinkle, every freckle, and every scar. He <em>needed</em> to memorize every inch of her body, everything that made her who she was. He wanted to engrave her in his memory so he wouldn’t ever forget how beautiful she was nor the warm love he felt for her. He had caressed her whole body carefully, trying not to let his fingers forget the feel of her skin on them, and had kissed every nook and cranny his lips could find on their way to the inside of Selene's hips, where they landed for a good while to bring her to climax for the first time without the need to enter her. But far from stopping there, Loki decided he wanted to make her have more pleasure, so as soon as he heard her start moaning, he added his hands to the game, entering her only with his fingers while Selene kept moaning with pleasure, managing to bring her to climax for the second time before penetrating her with his member and making her come for the third and last time for that night. After all that, it was no wonder she was the first to fall asleep.</p><p>It had been a long time since either of them had slept so well. In fact, they could not remember a single day in their lives feeling so safe in their sleep. Their home was in each other's arms, it was the only place where they could be themselves. Though Selene still didn't know all the facets of her partner, as much as he had warned her.</p><p>Once they decided to get out of bed, Loki immediately began to prepare the potion to try to recover his powers while Selene took care of some chores around the farm. Loki took all the ingredients out of the brine bucket and let them dry on the table while he took a cauldron to the river to fill it with running water. He was to put it on the fire while pouring in the ingredients one by one, whispering an incantation in an ancient tongue that only the wizards of Vanaheim still spoke. He stirred it for a while, but nothing happened. It was supposed to turn into a bluish paste, but it still looked more like a strange thick soup that was gradually taking on a reddish coloration from the magnolias.</p><p>Maybe it wasn't working because he didn't have enough magic to perform it correctly.</p><p>He pulled the cauldron out of the fire, annoyed that it hadn't worked, and opened his book to look for more options. Maybe he had missed a step, or hadn't read something right, or it just couldn’t work without magic.</p><p>Selene came in with a basket full of zucchini and set it down on the table, next to all the scattered ingredients of Loki's potion, who was so focused on rereading the steps of his book that he hadn't seen or heard her coming. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to look at her.</p><p>“How’s it going? Have you made any progress?” Selene asked, leaning a bit and kissing his cheek.</p><p>“No. No matter how I make it, it seems it won’t work without magic” Loki stretched his arms, “and even if it does work, I don't know if it will have effect because my magic would surely still be sealed.”</p><p>“<em>Sealed</em>? But seals can be broken, right?”</p><p>“It’s not that simple. There must be something magic, some kind of «anchor» for me to regain my powers. My brother has his hammer: if he got it back, he would have his powers back. But I don't have anything like that. My powers come from within me.”</p><p>“Then, why don’t you try using your own blood? Or just… spit on it?” she shrugged jokingly, “if your magic comes from within you, give it something yours.”</p><p>“I know you’re joking, but that’s actually a great idea.”</p><p>“Oh, and I would add that locket of your bag as well. It reeks of «magic»” she, of course, air quoted the word.</p><p>Loki’s eyes opened in disbelief. He had completely forgotten that locket even existed. It had some magic for an emergency, how could have he forgotten about it? Wanting to help Selene get rid of her curse counted as an emergency, right?</p><p>He immediately got up and started rummaging through his travel bag, where he found the pendant in an inside pocket. He carried it to the table. He put the cauldron with the ingredients back on the fire, and opened the pendant to empty its content into the reddish paste that the ingredients had become. He stirred a little until it changed color, this time to a greenish color.</p><p>“There’s still something missing…” Loki muttered.</p><p>Selene reached for a needle inside her sewing kit and, taking a hold of Loki's hand, gave him a little prick on one finger.</p><p>“Ouch. Hey!” he complained.</p><p>“You seemed hesitant," she shrugged.</p><p>Loki put his finger over the cauldron and squeezed it a little until a couple of drops of his blood fell into the container.</p><p>“If this doesn't work, I will have wasted all the magic I had left and risked contracting tetanus for nothing," Loki mumbled, putting his finger to his mouth to lick the wound as he looked at Selene.</p><p>“For the record, the needle was clean and rust-free," Selene said, wiping it on her apron “hey, is it normal for that thing to give off blue smoke?”</p><p>Loki turned around to look at the cauldron on the fire, the contents of which were beginning to smoke and turn blue. Loki stirred it a couple of times before removing it from the fire again.</p><p>“I think it worked!” Loki announced happily.</p><p>“I’m glad, honey!” Selene congratulated him, “so, what are you supposed to do with that now?”</p><p>“The book says I have to rub it on my eyelids, forehead, and chest before going to bed,” Loki read carefully.</p><p>“That’s all? I thought there would be some kind of ritual, like burning a goat or something.”</p><p>“What kind of conception do you Midgardians have of magic?” Loki raised an eyebrow, confused.</p><p>“Midgar-what?” she tilted her head.</p><p>Loki shook his head, playing it down. He left the cauldron on the counter to cool and went to embrace Selene, to whom he gave a sweet kiss once he had her in his arms.</p><p>“If this works,” Loki started, pointing at the blue paste inside the cauldron “it will be because of you.”</p><p>“If it works, I’ll probably freak out and attack you.”</p><p>“Noted,” Loki chuckled.</p><p>She wrinkled her nose, she didn't like the smell that bluish mass gave off; but if it was for him, she would make an effort. After all, he had accepted her despite her curse.</p><p>They spent the day finishing the farm chores and cleaning the chicken coop before dinner. When she left to go hunting as she did every night, he smeared the concoction all over his body, but especially on the parts specified in the book - the forehead, chest and eyelids - and went to sleep wishing it would do some good.</p>
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